The Gems of Hoenn
by CDrayan
Summary: COMPLETED! A year after Team Rocket disbanded, Kamon's still having nightmares, and feels urged to find his father... in Hoenn, but things aren't what they seem. Read and review, please!
1. Sour Dreams are Made of This

© 2006 Eric Oakford

Pokemon © 2006 Nintendo/Creatures/Game Freak.

---

A severe thunderstorm struck late at night.

In one house, Kamon tossed and turned in his bed. He had a lot of trouble falling asleep. Maybe it was because the bed frame had been packed up, leaving only a mattress and sheets.

Nearly everything in his house at Goldenrod City was boxed up for moving to Hoenn. School was just out. Kamon stayed with Professor Elm in New Bark Town while his family stayed at Goldenrod.

Images rushed into his subconscious mind.

The images were very fuzzy. Kamon couldn't tell what most of them showed, but it appeared to be raining as severely as it was now. One of them included an unknown man looking fiercely at him.

Kamon gasped as he awoke, breathing heavily and flipping the light switch.

_Thump..._

Kamon froze. He was worried that someone may be trying to break in.

_Thump..._

Rattling could be heard at the window. Kamon went closer to get a better look. The man had a hood, so Kamon couldn't identify him. Worriedly, he opened the window.

"Thanks, Silver." The man lifted his hood. It turned out to be just Duncan Caliduct, also known as "Gold", much to Kamon's (aka "Silver") relief. "It's wet out there."

Kamon and Duncan both remembered how a year ago they, along with Duncan's sister Crystal, had been involved in Team Rocket's plan to find Kamon's father, in other words, their former leader.

"Why did you come here?" asked Kamon.

"Well, I didn't want to be alone in my room."

Kamon, however, decided that he wanted to get on with his life. He had some doubts, however, due to the dream he just had. Or was it a memory of his childhood? Kamon then realized that he didn't remember anything before age six... nothing but a blank slate. He never even went to school like other kids.

With that in his mind, Kamon rested on his bed, with Duncan next to him. Before Duncan and Crystal, Kamon didn't have any real friends except for his pet Persian, Axel, who was still back at home.

The farthest Kamon could remember was being in the old house in Viridian Forest. His mother passed away when he was nine. Kamon also had significant mental illness; he was unable to speak or understand simple things until he first met Duncan and Crystal two years ago. When his father disappeared, Kamon wandered into Viridian City and had been arrested for shoplifting food from a store. When the police found that Kamon was mentally ill, they remanded him to Saffron City Sanitarium, where he had gotten treatment until his uncle took him home.

---

The alarm clock turned on automatically. "...If this is your wake-up call, wake up!"

The room was messy. Glass soda bottles and popcorn bags littered the desk around a twenty-inch iMac with a speaker set. Rock posters splashed the walls.

Tabitha Ventosia dashed out of bed. The bedspread was topaz-yellow shading. He pulled on a pair of jeans, gelled his mullet, and ran down the hall to the kitchen.

"Hey, Uncle Surge! Just a week before me and Courtney get out of probation!"

Lt. Surge, Tabitha's uncle and the Gym Leader of Vermilion City, said gratefully, "You're so happy. You've got Courtney, and you don't ever want to leave her."

"Nope, we don't!" Tabitha replied happily as he bit into a salami sandwich. "We're going to apply for college today. See ya soon!" He then ran out the window.

"Hey! Walk!"

But Tabitha had already gone.

---

Courtney Ramalio checked the calendar. "Just a week before probation expires!" The plan was for her to go to Kanto University in the fall.

"Hey, Courtney!" Agatha exclaimed. "Aren't ya supposed to be in school?"

"School?" Courtney asked, dumbfounded. "Granny, it's summer, and I'm twenty-one. I don't go to school anymore. But I _am_ going to apply for college. Tabitha too!"

"How ya going to pay for it?"

"Uh... well..." The doorbell rang. "I'll get it. Hi, Tabby!"

"Hey, Courtney! We've gotta find money for college!"

"I know! Granny told me that. What are we going to do?"

"Let's go look for a job that can get us scholarships for the whole four years!"

"Well, then we should get started now." Courtney ran out and into Tabitha's convertible. "Bye, Granny! See you later!"

---

At Duncan and Crystal's house, pancakes were being served. The Caliducts were also moving to Hoenn.

"We're making them for Duncan's birthday," said Lisa gratefully.

"Fifteen years old," added Roger.

Duncan poured a few drops of maple syrup on his pancakes.

Crystal sprinkled small pieces of assorted fruit on hers.

Kamon then realized something. Between his arrival at Goldenrod and his mother's death (to be exact, between ages nine and sixteen), his birthday was never celebrated.

He still couldn't get that image out of his mind, though.

"I remember last year, you got me that PokeGear. Too bad Team Rocket permanently destroyed it." Duncan still remembered that time when Team Rocket captured him and Crystal in Radio Tower.

Kamon didn't seem to do anything.

"Silver, are you all right?" asked Crystal.

Kamon snapped back to reality. "I'm fine." But he still had that man in his head. Then again, it was probably just a bad dream, and he had to just continue on with his life, including moving to Hoenn.


	2. GoodBye Johto, Hello Hoenn

At the airport terminal in New Bark Town, Kamon had met up with his family. "Uncle Norman, I've had this strange dream. I saw some man through a window."

Norman then told him, "Oh, you did. Don't worry about it. It's probably just a bad dream."

"Yeah, you're right."

Kamon, with boarding pass in hand, showed the pass to the security agent. He also showed the agent his driver's license to prove his identity.

After reaching the inspection section, he pulled off his shoes, took his wallet out of his pocket, took his MacBook out of its case, and put them in trays. After passing the security gate, he retrieved his contents. "Well, I'm through."

---

Tabitha entered the kitchen. "Hey, Uncle Surge! Found somebody to pay for college. And I've even checked 'em out. That Maxie guy – I called him on the phone. He was real nice to me and Courtney."

"Come on, tell me more!" Surge demanded.

"Well, our job's gonna be about preserving the land environment or something like that..."

---

"Well, Granny, Tabitha and I found a good job at the info center." Courtney was eating salad that she made herself. "It's all part of the college plan. I could work in the culinary field, or maybe I could be an environmentalist. After all, it involves things like protecting land from pollution and cleaning up trash."

"You're a really dedicated lady. You'll really be a changed woman. I like it!"

---

Kamon, Duncan, and Crystal sat together on the plane. Kamon had the window seat, and could see the sun falling. "Just a matter of time before we leave Johto."

Duncan sighed. "We'll really miss our cousins."

Crystal then said in relief, "But at least Team Rocket never had a branch in Hoenn."

Kamon pulled down the lap desk, and put his MacBook on it, pressing the power switch. _Dong..._

After it loaded and the Dock and menu bar appeared, Kamon turned off the wireless feature, knowing that airlines wouldn't allow wireless communication. "No Internet for now."

The flight attendant announced, "Tohjoan Airlines Flight 613, non-stop to Hoenn. Please turn off all electronic devices for now..."

Kamon shut down the MacBook, and sucked on a life-saver.

A few seconds later, the plane began to move. Four minutes later, it rose to the air.

After reaching twenty-thousand feet, the flight attendant announced, "We have reached twenty-thousand feet. Please feel free to turn on any non-radiating electronics."

Kamon powered on the MacBook. He hoped that Axel would be fine in his PokeBall, which was in with much of the furniture.

Duncan looked around the plane. There were very few people he recognized.

But one person he did recognize was Jasmine Masonuge, the Gym Leader of Olivine City. "Hi, Jasmine!"

"Well, it's the Mineral Triad. It's been a year since I last saw you." Jasmine could remember meeting Duncan, and later Crystal and Kamon, a year ago. "How are things? Amphy's doing a lot better now." She also could remember how Team Rocket poisoned the Ampharos that maintained the lighthouse. It was in much better health now.

"We're doing just fine," Crystal said. "Are you going to Hoenn as well?"

"I'm visiting a relative. She's a Gym Leader there."

"Well, that's nice to know," Duncan praised. "Silver's just not very talkative, but I'm sure he's just not used to moving to another place."

"No, Gold, I've never gone on a plane," explained Kamon. "Just the Magnet Train. Before Goldenrod, I've lived in Viridian City my entire life."

Kamon then stared down the window. There was very little to see, save for the full moon and many stars. Below was the sea, mostly covered in clouds. It looked as if there was an endless sky beneath there.

And the altitude, too. He was twenty-thousand something feet above the ground. He was never this high before. He seemed to feel weightless. He put on headphones and tuned to iTunes, playing calm music, and shut the MacBook, putting the computer into sleep mode. Then, after a few minutes, he fell into a deep sleep, hoping not to have any bad dreams. He was unsure of what to do for now.

---

Brendan Birch awoke from bed. This was the last day of school, and he would be a sophomore in high school next year.

As he did every day, Brendan rummaged his drawers for clean clothes, headed to the bathroom, and took his daily shower, washing everywhere on his body.

Brendan felt awkward about maturing from a boy into a man. He was turning fifteen in August 17. Inside, he was changing rapidly. But on the outside, he didn't look very different. A bit taller, yes, and some facial hair, but his facial structure remained the same.

Brendan feared change, as he had grown so used to the way he was before.

He left the shower, put on the clean clothes, placed his dirty clothes down the laundry chute, and brushed his hair and teeth. Then, he shaved the stubble that was beginning to grow around his face.

Brendan then headed to the kitchen, pulled out a box of frosted mini-wheats, and poured it in a bowl with Rice Dream milk.

"Good morning, Brendan." greeted his father, Seth Birch, a professor of Pokemon in Hoenn.

"Hey, dad. Just two more final exams, and I'm back here for the summer. Those are History and Science." Brendan then placed a spoon containing rice milk and mini-wheats into his mouth.

---

"Ready, Brendan?" asked Bridgette Syntheprove, Brendan's para-educator, after entering his history class.

"Yeah, Mrs. Syntheprove. I'm going to get through these exams."

Upon finishing his exam, Brendan interpreted everything he learned in that class. He would definitely need it for events happening today. Those who forgot history were doomed to repeat it. So he had to make sure his history was as accurate as possible.

Brendan then took his Science exam. The meteorology, geology, and atmosphere were faintly familiar to him, and he had studied for the exam. The units of measure and degrees were confusing for him, though, and it took some time to get himself out of the entanglements.

"Whew! That's about it for this year. Guess there's nothing left for me to now." Brendan said to himself. "Hey, I'm sure I'll find something to do for the summer."

"On your computer?"

"Yes. Or swimming in the pool."

"Well, it's been a great year together, and I'll see you again next year." Bridgette was ready for round two. Brendan didn't seem so sure.

---

Brendan waited at the parking lot. A familiar car drove in, which Brendan ran to. "Hey, Rose, I'm done with exams."

"Why, that's good." Rose was Brendan's older sister. The two seemed to mirror Daisy and Kevin Oak of Kanto.

They drove back home.

---

Brendan got onto his computer, and read the news. "'Devon Corp. Creates Machine to Allow Seeing of Invisible Pokemon'. Wait, didn't Silph Co. of Saffron City beat them to it?"

Another article had the title "'Former Viridian Gym Leader Still Missing'. Didn't he disappear two years ago?"

And a third article read "'New Hoennian Gym Leader'. Hey! He's moving here today."

---

Kamon, Duncan, and Crystal drove in Kamon's car from Littleroot Harbor towards the town. Axel was out of his PokeBall, and looked around. The trees were completely unfamiliar. Some of the wild Pokemon were kinds that he had never seen before.

Kamon didn't have any dreams in the plane, strangely. At least that nightmare didn't happen again.

Crystal held a Togepi named Spike in her arms. Spike had grown so attached to Crystal since he hatched. Unfortunately, he hatched at a time of emergency, so he had to snap into action with Axel to stop Team Rocket. Now that the deed was done, he lived a happy life as a pet.

---

Brendan could hear cars and trucks entering the neighborhood toward the two houses between his. "Hmm. Must be the new neighbors." He wasn't at all interested for now.

---

May Stelldox, Kamon's cousin, hopped out of her father's van. "Here we are everyone!"

"Yeah, this is Littleroot Town." Kamon checked his driving directions Norman gave him, and verified that this was the place.

"Our new home," Crystal said in amazement. "It seems like an easy place to live."

"We're next door to Professor Birch's house." Duncan saw the Birchs' home between the Stelldoxes and Caliducts.

The Birches exit their house to greet the new neighbors. "Hello, everyone! Welcome to Hoenn!"

Brendan waved hello. They seemed to be nice people. "Hi, there, my name's Brendan."

"Great to see you, Brendan Birch!" exclaimed May. "You're the same age as me! I'm May Stelldox. My dad's the new Gym Leader of Petalburg City."

"I'm turning fifteen in August. And I've got a pet Mudkip. I call him Deep-Six, because he likes diving in the deep end of our pool with me."

"Oh, I could do that," said Crystal. "I took swimming lessons this year, and now I can do the basics. Oh, and I'm Crystal Caliduct."

"I still can't, though," said Duncan. "May not be that important, anyway. And my name's Duncan Caliduct, but you can call me Gold."

"I'm May's cousin, Kamon Stelldox. My dad was a Gym Leader too, before he disappeared. His name's Giovanni. Call me Silver." Kamon had met a boy who had similar traits to him. Both liked computers and their pet Pokemon. "It'll take a while for us to get unpacked, but we'll find something to do."

Brendan petted Axel. "That's a nice Persian. Those Pokemon don't live around here natively. What's its name?"

"His name's Axel," answered Kamon. "I've had him for as long as I can remember."

"Hey, isn't that a Togepi?" Brendan noticed Spike in Crystal's arms.

"Well, yes. I got him since he was just an egg. His name's Spike."

"Toge, Toge!" cried out Spike cheerfully.

"Now that's a rare Pokemon who also doesn't live in Hoenn," Brendan said in wonder. "I've got a Mudkip named Deep-Six... wait, I already told you that."

---

"Here we are, Oldale Town." Brendan led Kamon, May, Duncan, and Crystal to Oldale Town. There weren't any visible houses. Instead, there were stores around. "We go here for groceries and eating out. It's actually a small shopping district."

"Good to see how a shopping district is next to home," said Crystal.

"Yeah," agreed Duncan. "From New Bark to Cherrygrove, it was rather far away. This is much closer!"

"I'm glad to see how it's not so large. Goldenrod was hell." Kamon saw that Oldale was like Viridian City. Everything was within walking distance. He probably wouldn't need his car if he had to go here.

"Dad usually goes to the Pokemon Center when Deep-Six gets sick, and the Pokemart for her food and treats," explained Brendan. "Littleroot doesn't have those establishments, since it's zoned for homes, so it and Oldale act as if they were a single town."

---

"You're leaving Kanto?" Agatha shook her head. "Nah, your probation won't let you do that."

"Then I'll wait a week. It'll expire, and Tabitha and I can leave then." Courtney was well aware of probation, and it was almost done. Maxie was told about this, and promised to wait until expiration.

---

"Yeah, dude. We're outta here next week. Courtney and I just need our probation to expire."

"Right-o! You're not going to leave Kanto yet." Surge reminded Tabitha about probation, and that the young man could not leave until it expired, which was just a week. "But once you're free, you can get out of my hair!"

"Totally!"

---

"And here's Route 103. Dad and I usually go here. We found Deep-Six in the lake a year ago." Brendan remembered fishing at the lake.

_Something heavy pulled at the fish-line. Brendan pulled away the fishing pole, trying to get what was down there. And out of the water came a young Mudkip._

_"Dad! I found a Mudkip! Could we keep it?"_

"Yeah, that's where I got Deep-Six."

Kamon stared down at the lake, seeing himself in the reflection.

Something told him that he had something that he had to do. Shutting down Team Rocket was one thing, but the mystery regarding his father was left unsolved. He sighed. There wasn't any way that his father could possibly be at Hoenn. Then again, he could be anywhere.

Kamon was determined to find his father. And this time, nobody would impede his adventure. Nobody to come after him this time. "I've got to keep on moving."

---

"Keep on moving?" Crystal blurted out, flustered. "Silver, you remember what happened last time." The three went into Kamon's unpacked house that night.

"Come on, Brendan and May could help us," explained Kamon. "Dad's likely somewhere in Hoenn. Or maybe somebody around this land knows where he is!"

"I don't think they'd be interested," Duncan replied.

"Guess we're on our own again." Kamon then tried to look on the bright side. "Hey, at least Team Rocket's no longer around."

---

"May, you seem to be a nice person. I'm sure it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to be friends with Brendan. What do you say?" Professor Birch asked.

"Um, I'm sorry, but he doesn't seem interested."

"Oh, don't be like that," Birch said. "You should really talk to Brendan."

"Well, all right. I'm sure he'll listen to me!"

---

Kamon had detectors attached to his forehead. He was about to take a sleep test.

"Now, Kamon, this will be perfectly harmless," said Norman. "We should find out what is shown in your dreams exactly as you view them."

"All right, then, maybe the dreams are related to my dad. Good night, Uncle Norman."

"Good-night, Kamon."

Kamon then shut his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

---

"Well, I've... always wanted to travel through Hoenn," Brendan admitted. "But I'm sure I'd need a lot of help through."

"I could be your partner. We'll be good friends!" May exclaimed.

"All right, then, I'm sure Deep-Six would like to see the many wonders of the world." Brendan was also sure that his father wanted him to go on a Hoenn adventure. But where to start? "Let's start by searching for Pokemon to catch in Route 101. We could do that tomorrow morning."

---

Kamon awoke from bed. He had the same dream from last night. Seeing the projector, it showed the man he saw. "Hey! Come on in here!"

---

Brendan and May stared at a raccoon with zigzag fur patterns. "That's a Zigzagoon. I think Deep-Six can fight it," May whispered.

"Then I'm all for it! Come on, Deep-Six, let's bring in another pet!" But as Brendan called out the blue mudpuppy, Zigzagoon became frightened and ran away. "Oh, man... I gotta be quieter next time."

---

Norman and Gloria saw the image of the man Kamon saw in his dream. Kamon printed out the image. "We should try to find out who this person is. Then again, it probably is just a dream. I'm overreacting and letting my imagination get the best of me!"

"No, Kamon, it's likely a memory," Norman insisted. "Look at these other images."

Images of Kamon's old house in Viridian City appeared. Kamon walked out of the room, deluding himself from such a big deal over a dream.

Gloria saw the image of the house. "Maybe something significant happened there."

Kamon walked out of the house, trying to erase the memory from his head. "It's no big deal. But I want to find my dad... No! I can't erase it!"

---

Brendan called out Deep-Six, who defended Brendan. Poochyena lunged at the Mudkip, but the mudpuppy and Brendan dodged.

Deep-Six reared up to ram into Poochyena. Before the dog could strike, the Mudkip struck it.

Poochyena then bit into Deep-Six. The Mudkip screeched in pain, struggling to get the dog off of him, until he rammed into a tree – Poochyena head-first. Leaves glided down to the ground from the shock.

May handed a PokeBall to Brendan. "Now's your chance to catch Poochyena!"

"All right, then, here goes nothing..." Brendan tosses the red-and-white capsule at the dazed Poochyena. The ball shook three times, and then clicked. "I did it! I caught it!"

Deep-Six hopped toward Brendan, a bite-sized mark on his fin.

"Ouch..." May saw that the Mudkip was hurt. "You'll need some healing."

---

Professor Birch was surprised to hear the news. "Wow! You caught a Poochyena?"

"Yeah, with May and Deep-Six's help." Brendan held the PokeBall containing the dog. "I think we can travel Hoenn now!"

"That would be nice. I've got something for you, May," said Birch. He handed her a PokeBall.

May quickly opened the ball. Out came a baby chicken with red and orange feathers. "Isn't this a Torchic? This is very nice! I'll call her Barbecue!"

"Well, you can start your trip through Hoenn next week. But while you're at it, I have this Pokedex. Your neighbors gave it to me, but I think you should have it, Brendan."

Brendan received the electronic encyclopedia. "Wow. There's a lot of info on almost two-hundred fifty Pokemon!"

"Before your neighbors got that 'dex, their relatives received it," explained Birch. "You look like the next person!"

"Thanks, Dad! I love you!" Brendan yelled out happily as he and May ran out of the house. "Just a week and we're off to see the world."


	3. Where's Wally?

The boy with green hair rested under a tree in his backyard. His full name was Terry Waldo Syntheprove, but everyone called him Wally.

"I'm not going to spend the summer doing nothing..." He walked back inside.

Wally, with his Treecko, left the house. He wanted to go through Hoenn and reach Evergrande City, the sacred island and Pokemon utopia.

But this would be one long journey.

Treecko, check. Inhaler, check. Money, check. He wasn't sure if he would be able to make money on the road, though, so he brought plenty of his life-savings with him.

At Route 104, however, he felt discouraged. The reason for this was because his sister went on a similar adventure, but had gone missing. He decided that this could be an adventure to find Shelly. Or he could meet his cousin Wanda at Verdanturf. But he was unsure if Rusturf Tunnel was completed yet. If the tunnel was completed, this would be one quick shortcut.

---

"Wally? Wally? Where are you?" Bridgette searched Petalburg City for her missing son. "Where could that boy be? He must have gone with Climber."

Phil, Wally's father, said, "He may be looking for Shelly. It's too dangerous for him to do that."

---

A week passed since Brendan caught Poochyena, whom he appropriately named Mutt.

The phone rang. Brendan picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Brendan, look, my son's gone missing. Could you come to my house so I can explain more?"

"All right, then, I'll see you there." Brendan hung up. "Mrs. Syntheprove's son's gone missing. I think we've found an adventure!"

"I- I'm not so sure that's a good idea for you to go out on your own," Birch said, flustered.

"May's coming with me, and we'll stay together! And don't you remember? We're leaving soon."

"All right, then, Brendan, you do after all have a favor to do for Mrs. Syntheprove. You've got an adventure awaiting you anyway!"

Brendan went into his bedroom, put on his biker outfit and changed his gray sneakers to black and red Velcro shoes. As an added flare, he pulled on a hat that seemed to make his black hair look white, with a black headband that had a PokeBall logo on it. He was ready to go.

---

Tabitha opened the door. A red-haired man with a black and red jumpsuit was present. "Hello there, Tabitha Harlan Ventosia."

"Dude! Who the heck are you?" Tabitha didn't recognize this person.

"I'm Maxie, the person you called last week. You were with a... Courtney Margi Ramalio?"  
"Yeah, man, that's the girl. She's at Indigo Plateau. I'll take ya there!"

"Thanks for your hospitality. But please try to improve on your attitude."

---

Courtney opened the door. "Hey, is this Maxie? We talked to you on the phone last week."

"Yes, ma'am. Are you ready?"  
"I'm all ready. Probation's expired and we're free to go to Hoenn." Courtney then grabbed Tabitha's hand as she smiled at him. "Let's go traveling." Out into the world they went.

---

"Where are Brendan and May?" asked Duncan. He and the others searched for them at Littleroot Town, and gave up at the Caliduct home.

"They must have left for a Pokemon adventure," answered Crystal. "At least they're safe from Team Rocket!"

"I don't know... we should go look for them," said Silver, skeptical. "I think they'd need a seasoned adventurer with them. We'd better come along."

---

Wally had reached Petalburg Forest. He gulped as he entered the opening. Climber was on his right shoulder, scoping around. It seemed unusually quiet for some reason. But it wasn't just his Treecko that he had with him. He also had a Ralts, a small psychic Pokemon that could teleport him to places. But Waltzing' Matilda, or Matilda for short, as Ralts was named, had never seen anything outside of Petalburg City other than her Route 102 habitat.

Wally tensed up. What if someone was hiding and about to attack him?

Suddenly, a fierce, gray dog attacked from the bushes, knocking down Wally. Matilda then vanished. "Agh! Help!"

"Great job! You've-" A man in a pirate-type outfit with the insignia of a white, circular "A" with crossbones as the standing lines and a spike on top of the circle, emerged from the bushes as well, but saw that the person was Wally, and not the person the grunt was after. "Let him go, it's not that Devon Researcher."

Wally pulled himself up. "What a rough Mightyena. I don't think it was trained- Hey! You're a Team Aqua Grunt!"

"Yeah, kid, now get the heck outta here. I've got a job to do."

Wally quickly ran deeper into the forest, brushing himself off as he ran. Losing his breath, he used his inhaler. "I've got to remember to go slower next time." Matilda rematerialized next to him, much to Wally's shock. Then he remembered something. A Devon researcher? Something wasn't right. Then again, there was nothing he could do about it.

A few minutes later, he heard a scream, then "Hand over those papers!" It sounded exactly like the Team Aqua Grunt who attacked Wally earlier. Climber scurried up a tree to get a view of what had happened.

A beaten man brushed himself off, apparently after being attacked by some thief. "Oh no! He took my briefcase and ran off to Rustboro City!"

"Rustboro City?" Wally then continued to search for the exit from the forest.

---

"Well, what does Wally look like?" asked May.

Bridgette explained, "Well, he has green hair, blue eyes... oh, you'll just forget. Here's his photo." She handed Brendan a photograph of Wally. "Keep that photo! It'll help you find him."

"All right, then," said Brendan. "We'll find him."

"Right-o. Let's move, Brendan. No time to lose!" May then grabbed Brendan and ran west of Petalburg City.

---

Kamon, Duncan, and Crystal entered Petalburg Gym, where Norman now worked. Apparently, this was the reason for moving to Hoenn.

"Hello there, everyone! Are you all done unpacking?" asked Norman.

"Yeah, we're done now," said Kamon. "But we can't find Brendan and May now."

"Professor Birch told us that they left to travel around Hoenn," explained Duncan.

"So we're going to follow them." interjected Crystal. "At least we'll be safe! Team Rocket never had a branch here to begin with."

"Well, just be really careful. There could still be some scrupulous crooks around in Hoenn," said Norman. "But then again, they're not very dangerous."

"See you later, Uncle Norman." Kamon then walked out with Duncan and Crystal, determined to find Brendan and May.

---

Brendan saw footprints leading into Petalburg Forest. "I think Wally went into here."

"Then we'd better look in there. It might be dangerous." May and Brendan entered through the opening into the dark forest.

On the other side, Wally emerged, happy to see daylight.

But the smell of pollen really cheered him up. "That smells wonderful." He pulled off berries from a tree and placed them in a knapsack. "I'm sure Climber and Matilda will love these!"

He then ran off towards a bridge to Rustboro City.

Meanwhile, back at the Petalburg Forest exit, Brendan and May also emerged. Brendan had caught a lazy Slakoth (named Sleepy) who seemed to mirror his personality. May had caught a Taillow (named Airborne) who attempted to fly away, but Barbecue pecked its wings while the bird tried to get a running start.

"Wally's gone through here." Brendan then saw some berries on the ground. "Here you go, Deep-Six and Sleepy."

The two Pokemon swallowed the berries gratefully.

---

"So, where do you think they've gone?" asked Kamon.

"We're not looking for Brendan and May," explained Duncan. "We're looking for your dad."

"It's haunting you in your sleep, so we can't stop our adventure now," said Crystal. "But I'm not so sure about this..."

"We _lied_ to Uncle Norman?!" Kamon exclaimed in shock. "How could you?"

"It had to be done," said Duncan. "If we told him we were looking for your father, he'd get all bent over and make you go home."

---

Wally had entered Rustboro City. By now, he considered taking a rest. "I've got to stop at a Pokemon Center right now. It's getting dark."

He then headed towards a nearby Pokemon Center. Wally sat down on a sofa while his Pokemon rested.

Brendan and May entered the Center, and were surprised to see a boy looking somewhat like Bridgette.

"May, that's him. That's Wally!"

"Come on over here, Wally!"

"Huh?" Wally looked around. Someone was calling for him. "I'll be there in a second!" He headed toward Brendan and May. "Who are you guys?"

"My name's Brendan. Your mom's my para-educator."

"And I'm May, Brendan's new neighbor."

"Hi, there! My name's Wally."

"Nice to meet you, Wally," said Brendan. "But your mom called us out to look for you."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm just looking for my sister, Shelly," explained Wally. "She's got to be around Hoenn somewhere..."

May then stated, "That wouldn't be a good idea if you're going alone. So we're coming with you."

"Thanks!" exclaimed Wally. "I'd need someone to help me."

---

"Good night, ladies!" a man in a pirate-like outfit exclaimed as he left the barracks; the lights shut off.

Shelly Syntheprove rested in her bed; the waves roared outside. Aged twenty-five, she was fourteen years older than her brother Wally.

Five years ago, Shelly had joined a club called "Team Aqua" and never saw her family since. Instead, she lived under the watchful eye of many Aqua Admins, such as Matthew Geotica. Somehow, she felt that Matt was calm toward her, while being tough to the grunts. This didn't seem fair, but at least she wasn't shouted at like other grunts. Recently, she had gained the rank of Aqua Admin. and was now a teammate of Matt.

"It's all evened out now," she said to herself as she fell asleep. "We now work together in the same rank..."

---

"Welcome, new recruits!" exclaimed Maxie. He stood after the Magma insignia – a black "M" with a red outline. "I'm so glad to be in charge of helping you find your strength in protecting this wonderful world. Within a year, we will be able to provide lush land for people to live on. This is important because the population is always rising. But first we must beat our big competition, Team Aqua!" The Magmas all laugh victoriously. "From now on, your life is Team Magma. Forget your friends and family, because I, Maxie, am now both your mother and father."

Tabitha and Courtney tittered, thinking, Maxie must look horrifyingly messed up naked! But they dared not blurt anything out; they feared that they would suffer a nasty end.

---

"I can't believe we're not going to work together," said Tabitha. "Totally bogus."

"Just remember, you can always call me." Courtney felt upset, too. This wasn't in the job description. "And maybe once we're Admins, we'll be paired together."

The two reluctantly left to their appropriate stations in the headquarters. They were dressed in red hooded fireproof sweaters. Why anyone would wear sweaters in a hot place was beyond them.

---

"...right, left, right, left! Left, right, left, right, left! Left, right, left, right, left!"

Courtney was running with other Magma Grunts. Here she was, Mt. Chimney. One small step for mankind, but one giant leap for Magma-kind. This was a nice workout for her. It enabled her to keep her body slim. And it was around the volcano – what a pleasant sight with sunrise! The smoke coming out made her nervous, though, as she bumped into another grunt. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I just got distracted. This is a pretty place!"

"Yeah, it's pretty, but you've got to focus on us," said the grunt.

---

"One for the great Maxie!"

Tabitha pulled himself up the metal bar. "Man, I'm buff. Dude! There's totally no reason for me to go through this! I've had experience in Team Rocket!"

Vigen, the instructor, heard that. "You, with Team Rocket? No way!"

"It's true! Courtney and I got probation after they shut down!"

"Like hell! I don't believe you!"

"Then don't. Be a jerk!"

---

Kamon, Duncan, and Crystal had reached Brendan, May, and Wally. "There they are!" exclaimed Duncan.

"Hey! It's the neighbors," said Brendan. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we're going to help you on your adventure," said Duncan. "We're experienced."

"Don't worry, we three can take care of ourselves," said Wally gratefully. "We're a group."

"Alright, then. Suit yourself. Don't tell this to anyone," began Kamon, "But we're on our own quest to find my dad. We may bump into each other at different points. So tomorrow, we go our separate ways and the adventure begins!"

"It's a deal! I'm great at keeping secrets," said Brendan. "I hope you find your dad, Silver!"

"I hope so, too," replied Kamon. "He'll tell me everything about Team Rocket, and, uh, lots of other important things."

"We'll go to Devon Corporation," said May. "That sounds like a great place to start."

"Say, we'll come along with you," said Crystal. "Spike will surely appreciate what new innovations are there."

"Well..." Duncan wanted to replace his PokeGear. "All right. My PokeGear got destroyed by Team Rocket, and that new PokeNav could replace it."

Kamon pulled out his cell phone, seeing if there were any messages. There was a group of pictures of his old Viridian Forest home.

"Hey, Gold, look at this. What do these pictures mean?" asked Kamon.

"Well, I think something significant happened there, but you don't know what," hypothesized Duncan. "Wait a second... there's some black lines at the corner of these pictures. The lines aren't at all related to the pictures. I think it's a puzzle."


	4. Welcome to Devon Corp

After a few twists and turns in the large city, Duncan, Crystal, Kamon, Brendan, May, and Wally headed toward the Devon Headquarters. Upon their arrival, however, a riot broke out.

_Biff! Pow! Bam!_

"Aah! Please!!! Wait!" It was the same Devon Researcher Wally had seen in Petalburg Forest. "Don't take my goods!"

Brendan then asked, "What's with the riot?"

"I don't know, but we should go find out," replied May.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked Crystal. "It doesn't seem like a good idea."

"That's the same guy who got robbed in Petalburg Forest yesterday!" exclaimed Wally. "We've got to find out!"

"Okay, then, just be careful!" shouted Duncan.

"We will!" answered May as the three rookie trainers ran east, away from the Mineral Triad.

"Oh, it's you again!" exclaimed the Devon employee, recognizing Wally. "I've been robbed again by Team Aqua! I gotta get those goods back! I think he went off to Rusturf Tunnel."

"Isn't it still under construction?" asked Brendan. He heard how the tunnel was being built, allowing easy access to Verdanturf.

"Apparently not," said May, pointing towards a sign crossed out with a red "X". "I think they've given up."

"Then he's picked a dead-end," said Wally. "Maybe he thought it was finished. I wish it was, because then I could meet relatives."

---

After reaching the tunnel, gym leader Roxanne stormed out. "I can't believe that pirate forced me out! I was almost finished with the tunnel!"

An old man trudged out. "Oh, what am I going to do? That thug took my darling Peeko..."

"He might do something drastic like cause the Pokemon to start an uproar!"

"Why are they trying to make the tunnel with Pokemon and manpower?" asked May.

"Because they said that construction equipment would scare the Pokemon," explained Brendan.

"Good thing that thief's trapped!" exclaimed Wally as he rushed into the cave. "Nice try, thief, but no getaway this time!"

The Team Aqua Grunt was the same one that Wally saw in the forest as well. He grumbled, "I can't believe this is the tunnel to nowhere. I'm but a lowly grunt..."

"Quick, guys, let's try to stop this thief!" May shouted as she called out Barbecue.

"Come on, Matilda, save me!" Wally called out the Ralts.

"I'll help you stop him," Roxanne said as she entered, calling out Aron.

"You wanna battle me? Go on! I'm a strong grunt!" Brendan sneaked past the busy grunt and pulled up the briefcase, untying the Wingull along the way. The seagull flew free as Brendan ran out of the cave. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I gotta take this to Rustboro right away." Brendan then backtracked to the route they had gone through, back to the city.

---

Kamon, Duncan, and Crystal couldn't go beyond the first floor of Devon Corporation, because only personnel could.

"Hello there, kids!" It was Ben Pyrolic, the old man they had met before in Johto! Ben was walking down the stairs.

"Hey! You're Ben Pyrolic," said Duncan in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit my old friend, Mr. Stone. He runs this place!" Ben then asked, "How about I take you upstairs?"

"Sure," said Duncan. "We could take a sneak peek at some new electronics."

"Like the PokeNav." Crystal was determined to replace her PokeGear.

"Look, we don't have time to enjoy gadgetry. We need to get home," explained Kamon.

"We've got time. What's the rush?" asked Duncan.

"Fine."

---

"He got away..." May said in failure. "And all of our Pokemon got wiped out."

Roxanne assured, "But I saw Brendan get away with the goods and Wingull."

"Yes, he did," said Mr. Briney, the owner of the Wingull. "Peeko owes her gratitude to you!"

"Brendan went off to Devon Corporation, right?" Wally then left the cave. "Yes, he did!"

"What about the tunnel?" asked May. "Is it near completion?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Roxanne saw that it would take a few more days before the tunnel was completed. "It'll take us a few more days."

"Guess we'll have to go the super-long way!"

---

"Oh! You've got Pokemon!" exclaimed a scientist. "I've got a favor to ask of you. My name is Toseph Jupim," he said to Kamon.

"Okay, shoot."

"I'm testing a helmet for Pokemon."

"A helmet? Good idea, because Pokemon are known to hurt their heads."

"But this helmet also allows Pokemon to speak through a computer!"

"Wow! That's a cool idea! Without our Pokedex, we don't have any way of knowing what our Pokemon are saying. Come on Axel, we'll put a helmet on you." Kamon called out the Persian. Toseph then firmly attached the helmet to Axel's head. Axel felt disoriented at first. But the helmet was remarkably lightweight, much to his relief.

"How is it? You feel all right?" asked Toseph.

"Yes," was the response given from the helmet's computer. "I sure like the safety of this helmet," continued the male voice synthesizer. "It sure is great to get out of that PokeBall."

---

"...the Akomn Corporation. Groundbreaking research to help the future of Pokemon and humans alike. Akomn Corp. Because now is the future!" Tabitha and Courtney were located in their dorm, watching TV and sitting together.

The room consisted of crimson walls and dark carpeting. On the wall was a Magma Symbol. The two had just gotten a taste of what goes on in Team Magma. And was it tough!

"Totally awesome company, I bet," said Tabitha. "Heck, I don't even know their owner."

"It's going to have to compete against Silph Co. and Devon Corp," said Courtney. "I wonder what they're doing to better humans and Pokemon?"

"Yeah, I know. Totally secretive company, maybe, patents and trade secrets and all... Man, I don't understand business."

---

"Thank you so much for returning our equipment!" exclaimed Mr. Stone, the president and CEO of Devon Corporation.

"Thanks," said Brendan.

"I recognized that thief from yesterday," explained Wally. "I'm sure he's with Team Aqua."

"How could you help us find Wally's sister?" asked May.

"Well, we can give you our new tool, the PokeNav! This tool replaces our old PokeGear. We're giving this to you free as a memento for your adventure and because Ben referred you to us."

"Hey, that sounds great!" shouted Duncan. "I had a PokeGear once that I got for my birthday last year, but Team Rocket destroyed it." He showed the PokeGear remnants.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Mr. Stone felt sympathetic for Duncan and Crystal.

An employee handed the six each their own PokeNav.

"Thanks for the help!" exclaimed Kamon. "But we'd better get going now, Gold and Crystal." Kamon, Duncan, and Crystal left the building. "All right, let's get back home."

"What?" asked Duncan.

"Look, we _promised_ Uncle Norman that we would find the others," recapped Kamon. "Let's keep that promise, okay? We'll tell them that the others have left for their Pokemon journey. Besides, we've had enough excitement for now. We could spend the time at home to test out our new PokeNavs from Devon, such as transferring our old PokeGear data into them."

"Okay, Silver, we're ready to go home now." Crystal had begun to grow tired. "I'm sure Axel and Spike grew tired of the excitement of all those new gadgets. I mean, we can now listen to a Pokemon's speech like a human voice! Or more specifically, a choppy-sounding human voice."

---

"Thanks for giving us this letter, Mr. Stone," said May, unsure about the big adventure awaiting them. "Only one problem – where and who is your son? You need to provide details!"

"Oh, don't worry. Mr. Briney can get you across the ocean. My son Steven's at Dewford. He can be distinguished by his silver hair."

"Like my hat?" asked Brendan.

"Yes. Like your cap," pointed out Mr. Stone.

Wally believed that Steven was experienced enough to help them find Shelly. "Okay, then, Mr. Stone. We've got nothing to lose!"

"God Speed in your journey!" Mr. Stone shouted as the three left the building.

---

Kamon, Duncan, and Crystal left Rustboro City and backtracked to the long route home. Upon reaching the middle of the bridge, Kamon could hear underwater, "Plugh."

"Plugh?" Kamon wondered what this meant. Suddenly, like a flash, he vanished.

_Foosh!_

"Hey! Silver's disappeared," said a caught off-guard Duncan. "That was completely unexpected. How did he do that?"

"He must have said some magic word!" Crystal paid attention to the water. "Plugh..."

"See? He said Plugh. Augh!" Crystal dematerialized from existence.

"Plugh? Whoa!" Duncan vanished too.

---

Kamon awoke from his bed. He was back in his home. He could see from his window that Duncan and Crystal were also back in their rooms. "Wow! That was a lot quicker than on foot!"

"That was an old computer game joke," said Duncan, uninterested.

"Well, that doesn't matter at all." Crystal was glad to be instantly home. "It's a magic word that actually worked!"

The three headed outside.

"That had to have been a dream," denied Duncan.

"If it was a dream, why do we still have our PokeNavs?" Kamon presented his Pokemon Navigational System. "Check your pockets."

Duncan and Crystal were amazed to see that they, too, had PokeNavs.

"Well, we'll see you later," said Duncan. "We should keep this magic a secret between us."


	5. The Mystery Begins

The next morning, Brendan, May and Wally were led through Petalburg Forest to a shack near the beach. "Here's my home! I've lived here for a long time, I have."

"You know much about the ocean?" asked Brendan.

"Why, yes! I've sailed the sea for much of my youth," answered Briney. "I've seen many unique Pokemon. Most are harmless to humans."

"We've got a letter to deliver to Steven Stone," explained Wally. "We were told that he's at Dewford City. Do you know where that is?"

"Oh, yes." Mr. Briney had been there a lot. "I like going there to hear about new fads that happen to come by in Hoenn. I've heard of a 'Pokemon Quest' movie based on the adventures of the Color Triad."

"Isn't this the third story in the series?" asked May. "Or maybe we're the grounds for Pokemon Quest 2!"

---

Kamon talked with who appeared to be a detective named Dennis Intem. "You remember being at your old home in Viridian City."  
"It's all that came out," said Kamon.

Intem then showed Kamon a key card with a logo. It consisted of a circle circumscribed with a diamond, a cross in the diamond and an X crossing out the insignia. It was black, with the exception of the lower legs of the X, which were gray. "This card was found in Viridian Forest two months ago. Either the victim or killer dropped it."

Kamon examined the card. He didn't know where it came from.. "No. I can't seem to remember ever seeing it before."

Duncan then had an idea. With the printed pictures, he put them together, and they formed this logo!

Intem then asked, "Are you sure you didn't see the logo anytime before?"

"No, we saw these lines before seeing that card," said Duncan.

---

Duncan flipped through the Hoenn phone book. "Maybe someone in Hoenn knows all about Silver." The first place to check would be in the phone book, since it was possible a relative of Kamon lived in Hoenn. "Stelldox... Stelldox..." He found no one surnamed Stelldox. "Typical. Silver's contact information is unlisted, like back at Goldenrod City." Since Giovanni's number wasn't listed either, Duncan had three ideas. "Either he's not at Hoenn, the phone book's out of date, or his number's confidential." The third possibility seemed the most likely.

Crystal sketched a replica of the logo. Then she went on the Internet, scanned the logo, and checked to see if it was the insignia of any corporation. The results came up empty. "Maybe the company's not registered."

---

Mr. Briney sailed through the sea. The smell of salt tingled Brendan's nose. He had never actually seen the ocean before, but saw that it stretched on – seemingly endless.

Wally stared down into the water and saw various Pokemon such as Lanturn and Magikarp. In addition, there was a weird-looking clam. Wally then began to feel a bit sick and turned away from the water. "That water somehow makes me feel sick..."

A passing ship struck Briney's boat, causing it to rock.

"Whoa!" Everyone was taken by surprise.

"Hey! That's Briney! Let's get him!" shouted a passenger on the ship.

"Quick, hide!" The three trainers hid in the cabin.

---

The three could hear that Briney then got into a fight with the strangers. "Whoa!"

The boat rocked. Water leaked inside.

"Quick, Deep-Six, find a way out of here!" Brendan quietly called out the Mudkip, who skipped around for an exit. What he found outside was that Mr. Briney was beaten up and that the intruders were dressed in a similar fashion as the Devon thief. He also saw the make-shift "A" on the ship as it left with Briney. The mudpuppy quickly hopped back. "They've got Mr. Briney."

"Looks like we'll have to get to Dewford on our own, then," said Wally.

May then replied, "But we don't even know how to use the boat!"

Brendan stared at the ocean. He could see an island not far on the horizon. "We're almost there. Maybe I could swim over there and get help. We'll anchor the boat here."

"Brendan! Are you crazy?!" May said in shock. "There's dangerous Pokemon in the sea!"

"This part of the ocean only has harmless Magikarp and Wailmer," explained Brendan as he dove into the water, paddling himself towards the island. It wasn't anything like the swimming pool. He tried not to swallow the water, since it contained salt and bacteria as opposed to the chlorine in the pool. And he didn't want to accidentally swallow a fish Pokemon!

Finally, he reached shallow water and walked toward the land. "Hey you two," Brendan shouted out. "It's safe to swim across!" But Wally knew a little about boating and cruised toward the island. "Never mind... Hey! The boat's stuck in the sand now!"

"At least it won't be ravaged by Pokemon," said May, who climbed off.

The three walked off the beach and looked around.

It wasn't much. A set of buildings with blue roofs dotted the area. The place was rather quiet as a few people traveled around.

Brendan looked around for this Steven Stone. "Well, he's got silver hair, which I'm sure can distinguish him."

---

"Tabitha, I need my clothes," said Courtney from the bathroom.

"Sure thing." He pulled up Courtney's red and black clothing and headed for the bathroom. Upon opening the door, he was shocked to see a glimpse of Courtney... without any clothes! "Whoa!" He quickly tossed the clothes into the bathroom as he shut the door.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to wear a towel around myself! Just remember to knock next time."

"That was totally embarrassing..."

A minute later, Courtney exit fully-clothed.

---

"Forty years of service, Olivia. Too bad you've decided to leave."

"It's time for me to get on with my life – a regular life." Olivia finished signing the resignation forms and handed them to the man. She stood up to leave.

"Remember – we aggressively enforce this non-disclosure agreement. I need your key card."

"Oh, yes. Here it is." She handed the man her key card. It had the same insignia as the card Kamon saw.

---

Brendan found someone who fit Mr. Stone's description of Steven. "Hey there."

"What do you want?" asked the man.

"Nice island," said Brendan.

"Yes, very nice," informed the man. "Brawly, the popular fads... very nice indeed."

"I'm Brendan Birch."

"You don't say," responded the man impatiently.

"Are there any charter planes?" asked Brendan.

"Not one, sorry."

"How about the next boat?"

"Bad news. No boats or planes until next week."

Brendan began to regret coming here. Not because he hated it, but because he had no way of leaving for a week. "Isn't there _any_ way off?"

"Unless a Pokemon of yours can fly or swim you out, I'm afraid you're stuck here for a week." He then realized who he was talking to. "Wait, aren't you the son of Professor Birch?"

"Yeah. You're Steven Stone, right? Your dad asked me to find you."

"Oh, yes. I've come here to Dewford City to find some artifact."

"What artifact are you looking for?"

"Have you heard of the story of Groudon and Kyogre?"

"Yeah! My mom told me that story. The legend goes billions of years back. Kyogre created the ocean and all the water. Groudon created the land. But they got into a fight since humans have a conflicting need for both land and water. And after the battle, both went into a deep sleep. Then again, it's just a legend."

"Possibly, but I'm determined to find out if it's fact."

---

Brendan, May and Wally walked toward a small sloping cave. The sand shined beneath the sun. As they entered the cave, they entered a large room, well-lit by the sun.

Somebody else had been digging here. In the next room, a set of crates containing tools was placed on the gray stone ground.

"Hey, someone else was here before us," said May. "Maybe they're still here."

"I think they've already left," said Wally.

Brendan searched the crates. There was a folded-up shovel – possibly a military entrenching tool.

In addition, there was an odd part of the wall. It looked lighter than the surrounding walls.

"There's also some sort of inscription," said Brendan. None of them could read it, though.

"Come on, Matilda, let's see if you understand this inscription." Wally called out the psychic, which looked at it interestingly.

Suddenly, the cave began to shake, causing everybody to lose their footing.

A Mawile and Nosepass both appeared in the cave. They apparently failed to escape the rockslide.

"Hey! We've got double Pokemon!" Wally shouted as he called out Climber. "Let's catch them!"

"You catch the Pokemon while I get us out of here," said Brendan as he headed toward the now blocked exit. Looks like he would have to dig his way out.

Brendan unfolded the entrenching tool to find... a note? The handwriting was familiar.

_"To whom it may concern,_

_I am sure you will find this eventually. Team Aqua has taken me captive._

_We appear to be leaving soon, so they must have found something. Please seek help as soon as possible!"_

The letter was signed, "Professor Seth Birch".

"Hey! My dad's been here, and it doesn't look like a good thing. I gotta get this door unblocked!" Brendan then dug into the dirt feverishly.

---

Steven wondered what had happened to the three trainers. He feared that they were trapped in the cave.

But Brendan had finished digging his way out. "Whew! That was a lot of work."

"You're all right."  
"May and Wally will come up soon. I think Team Aqua beat you to the expedition, though. Here's my dad's note to prove it."

"Team Aqua must have taken Professor Birch to use him as a Pokemon expert. Good thing you weren't at home today."

"Mom and Rose – I hope they're okay too," said Brendan. But he was unsure of their fate. Since his father was captured, his mother and sister may have been too.

"I'll tell Brawly to sail you across to Slateport City," said Steven. "Yesterday, I saw Team Aqua go off in that direction."

Brendan wondered what Team Aqua could possibly want there.


	6. Oceanography

Brawly cruised through the sea to Slateport City using a motorboat.

Now that they were on a motorboat, Brendan, May and Wally felt the wind rushing past them. Wally thought that he had seen an abandoned ship, which the motorboat sped by, but it didn't seem too interesting at all. He dismissed it as a regular ship.

"When do we reach Slateport?" asked May.

"I guess in just a half hour," said Brawly.

"I can wait," said Brendan. "…Team Aqua has taken me captive… I need your help." He recalled the note stating that Team Aqua was holding his father captive. It agitated him. Why would they do such a thing? He looked out into the sea as the sun fell, turning the sky orange.

As night fell, they arrived at Slateport Beach. The night sky and bright moon gave the beach a majestic appearance.

"I think we're going to need to stop and rest for the night," said Wally.

"Sure thing, Wally," said Brawly. "I'll check in at a hotel."

---

"How does that logo relate to me?" asked Kamon.

"I don't know," answered Duncan. "What do I look like? A fortune-teller?"

Kamon immediately had an idea snapped into his mind. "A fortune-teller! That's it! Someone who could tell me answers to my questions, as well as my future!"

"Those people are scams," said Duncan. "They're complete idiots who try to take your hard-earned money!"

"Actually, I think that might be a good idea just in case," said Crystal calmly. "I mean, there are psychic Pokémon, so it's possible."

"Then that's where I need to go. Off to the phone book!" Kamon headed to the bookshelf and grabbed a phone book. "Tomorrow morning, I get all the answers to my questions!"

"I bet they can tell me about future stocks," Duncan said. But he didn't seem serious about it.

---

The next morning, Brendan, May and Wally searched around Slateport City. "Where to now?" asked Brendan.

"Maybe Shelly's at the museum," said Wally. "Let's go there."

"I think I remember where that is," said Brendan. "I know, since I've been to that museum before. It's at the east edge of town."

And he was right! They had reached the science museum. But who were these Team Aqua Grunts?

"What is Team Aqua doing here?" asked May.

"I don't know, but it looks like a long line." Wally did know, however, that something weird was going on here. "Let's wait in line to find out."

"This is like waiting a long line for a ride at PokéWorld," Brendan mused. But as time passed, the line became smaller as the three stayed directly behind.

And finally, they entered the museum. The floor was an azure blue and the walls were metallic.

But something wasn't quite right here.

Many people who appeared to be with Team Aqua occupied the place. They all wore the same pirate outfits. But none had the long, orange hair that Wally would recognize.

"Don't worry, you guys," May assured the staff. "We're not with Team Aqua."

"Okay, then, that's $50 each for entrance," said a receptionist.

"Here you go." Brendan handed three fifty-dollar bills.

Upon entering the Oceanic Museum, Wally searched the place to try and find anyone familiar. Brendan browsed the water exhibits.

---

"I'm still having these dreams and I can't stop myself from believing them," said Kamon.

The psychiatrist then told him, "Now, Mr. Stelldox, to believe in such strange dreams is a sign of anxiety. Sooner you accept this, the sooner you'll recover."

"But, I dreamed that the legendary Mew told me where to find information of my past!"

"And what exactly did the Pokémon say?"

"Oh, what's the difference? It's just a dream."

---

Brendan saw a sample of soil from the ocean floor. He read, "'Over many years, the remains of life-forms settle at the bottom of the sea making sedimentary layers. By analyzing these layers, the ancient past is revealed.' So layers can tell a story about a long time ago." Another was a pile of salt. "'Why is the sea salty? Seawater contains dissolved salt.' Yeah, it's sodium and chlorine. They come from rocks and dissolve in water."

May looked at a replica model of Hoenn. "Where's Littleroot?" Brendan also took a look at the model and pointed to Littleroot Town. It was down at the southeastern part of the region.

Wally then went upstairs. He knew about the sign saying "Employees Only" but chose to ignore it, seeing as Team Aqua didn't always comply with the rules. He then shut the door quietly. The room was dark, so Wally flipped on a light switch. Nobody else seemed to be inside, fortunately. As such, he searched through the room to see if there would be anything that Team Aqua would find interesting. But the only problem was this: what were they looking for exactly?

"Hey, you! Hold it! What are you doing in here?" questioned someone.

"Uh, well, I…" Wally saw that it was some scary man who was with Team Aqua. He appeared to be a high-ranking Aqua as well, since he was dressed in a blue vest rather than the striped shirts the grunts wore. "You're not staff!"

"Neither are you, kid! But you're snooping around, and we can't have that crap! I'm Matthew Geotica, the leader of this group. Archie's the grand leader of us all!"  
"I don't care, but I gotta go!" Wally quickly dashed his way out, but Matt grabbed him, slamming the door.

"Not so fast, kid! You're coming with us!"

"Help! Brendan! May!" Wally pounded on the locked door. An alarm began to ring throughout the place.

Brendan heard Wally's cries for help and ran up the stairs. He started to open the door, but Matt pushed the door at him, banging the trainer's head and causing him to fall down the stairs dazed.

May had to think fast, since the Aqua Grunts were pursuing them. And so, she pulled the dazed Brendan out of the museum, the staff also running out.

"They've got Wally…" Brendan said, still dazed. "My head hurts…"

"Well, we've got to hide!" May and Brendan quickly hid in the bushes as Team Aqua ran out with Wally held captive. They could hear what Team Aqua was saying.

"All right, then, let's put this kid in that old cabin between Mauville and Slateport!" said Matt.

"Good idea, Geotica," said a female Aqua, whose features couldn't be distinguished by Wally, since he was blindfolded. Wally felt himself being lifted into a van, which drove off. He was also tied up. Who were these people anyway?

---

The psychiatrist wasn't much help. Kamon needed someone who could tell him about his life. Why was he so important to Team Rocket?

And so he searched the phone book for fortunetellers. "Fortune cookies, no… fortune hunters, of course not… Wheel of Fortune, no way… here it is, fortune tellers." He searched the book for one nearby Littleroot, maybe Oldale. "Hmm, this one looks interesting…"

The entry read, "Having trouble with figuring out the past? Or are you unsure about your future? Perhaps both? Then come down to Monane's Cabin for all your answers!"

"Monane, huh? Sounds good, and this is in… It's at Petalburg City." Kamon used scissors to cut the entry out. "Let's go to Petalburg, Axel. I'll drive."

---

Kamon, Duncan and Crystal arrived in Petalburg. "850 35th Street… this must be it," Kamon said as he parked the car and exit with Axel. This would likely cost money, so he had also brought some.

For some odd reason, Kamon had the feeling that someone was watching him. He looked around and saw a female in a tan truck. She looked oddly familiar…

"What are you looking at?" asked Crystal.

"I don't know," answered Kamon. "It's nothing important."

But this was it. No turning back now. He opened the door leading inside.

"Hello? Is anybody here?"

"Ah! A customer!" someone shouted out.

"You must be Monane. My name is Kamon Stelldox."

"Hello, Mr. Stelldox. I see you and your Persian have trouble with your past and future."

"Well, I don't really know much. Team Rocket pursued me last year, but my friends and I shut it down for good. Now I keep getting these dreams and I can't stop myself from believing them."

"Let's sit down here to set things through about your life."

"Okay."


	7. Tricks Up Someone's Sleeve

Kamon stared at the crystal ball. All that he could see was the dream he had before. But later, something else appeared. It was a message: "Danger is closing in. The more Kamon learns, the more danger he is put in." Along with this was the number 486248.

"What does it mean?" asked Kamon.

The others, however, couldn't decipher it, since it appeared to them to be weird symbols. "I'd better write down the symbols here and see if they're anything meaningful." Duncan wrote down the symbols. Could this be a clue to Kamon's past?

---

Brendan and May searched the cabin. There was no sign of Wally anywhere.

"Where could he be… whoa!" Brendan tripped on something, causing a trapdoor to open. He saw that it was a small lever he tripped on. "A-ha! Maybe they're holding him down there."

"Let's get down then." May then lowered herself down the trapdoor and into a small room, which had passageways leading further.

"Okay, so where do we start?" asked Brendan.

"Let's take this way," May said as they entered the northern doorway.

After entering, they were surprised to see thick trees blocking further entrance.

"How do we get past them?" asked Brendan. "We could try to cut them down, but those trees are kind of large."

"Hey! I know! I'll have Barbecue burn them down! Come on, Barbecue!"

The Torchic puffed a few embers at the leaves of the trees, causing them to go on fire.

"Are you crazy? We could die from smoke inhalation!" Brendan searched around for a window to open. He didn't find any, but did find a vent on the ceiling, he told May, "Quick! Get out of the room! We've got to let the smoke out through the vent."

Brendan and May then ran back upstairs. Thirty minutes later, they went back in. The trees became ashes, but they were still burning. "Let's put out the fire," Brendan said as he used Deep-Six to extinguish the ashes. "I think it's safe to go through now."

The two then continued on. Brendan began to feel uncomfortable. "May, I've got a bad feeling about this…"

Razor-sharp blades came plummeting down above, almost striking Brendan and May. "Wow, that was close," said Brendan. "I don't want parts of my body cut off."

"I think this place is filled with traps!"

"You've got to be right." Brendan also had a nagging feeling that Team Aqua was trying to keep them from reaching Wally for some reason – maybe a possible connection.

"Brendan, look out!"

An Electrike pursued the trainers. "Come on, Deep-Six!"

---

Kamon looked at the symbols that Duncan copied down. He didn't recall seeing these before. Was this some sort of encryption to prevent him from finding clues?

The memories were trapped in his head. He couldn't get them out.

The doorbell rang. "Who could that be?" Kamon headed to the front door and opened it. "Hello? Detective Intem? What is it now?"

"You may be connected to a murder, Kamon."

"What? What's going on?"

"When we found the key card, we also found next to it a skeleton."

---

At the police station, Kamon looked at the skeleton. "It looks like this person's been dead for a long time."

"We found him in a secluded area of Viridian Forest. This person may have been dead for eleven years."  
"But that's all the way in Kanto."

"Kantoan police found it and turned the case over to us," explained Intem. "We're the most advanced law enforcement agency in the nation."

"Okay, then, but what does that have to do with the keycard?"

"We found it nearby."

Eleven years! "Maybe this person's connected to me, since I subconsciously drew that logo!"

"There was flesh beneath the fingernails, so the killer may have had scratches during that time."

"I don't know if I had scratches at that time…"

"According to school records, you didn't."

"So I must be a witness."

"It's a possibility. But we haven't been able to decrypt the code on the card."

"That must be very good security," Kamon said, astonished. "I think the company owning the card isn't registered."

"By law, all established companies must register with the Business Inspection System."

"Then they're breaking the law! But since there's no way to find the criminals, there's nobody to prosecute. We're in a dead end."

"And there's the disappearance of the Birch family. Nobody knows who did it or why it was done."

"Looks like another case here."

---

Olivia came into her apartment, home from shopping. She was surprised to see a man sitting in her chair. It was the same man who processed her resignation. "What are you doing here?"

"There's something we should talk about."

"Okay, shoot."

"I ran your keycard through the system to deactivate it, processing your resignation, but the clearance code didn't match your assignment," explained the man.

"Hmm. That's odd."

"I said the same thing. I thought it was a faulty card, but then I found that Pantor was cleared to that level. Strange, considering he's missing and all. What is this you're trying to keep secret?"

"Get out of my apartment," Olivia grunted.

"Are you doing something you don't want the company to know about?" He flashed a folder, handing it to Olivia, and then he left.

Olivia opened the folder. It contained Kamon's child welfare records. "He broke into my safe!" She slammed the safe in anger. "I can't let him tell the company about Kamon."

---

"I can't believe we've got an Electrike," said Brendan. "It's going to come in handy."

"Where did it come from anyway?" asked May. "Is this maze connected to a power plant?"

"Yeah, we can get out that way. Maybe if we call for Wally, he'll hear us," realized Brendan. "Wally!"  
"Brendan? Is that you?" asked a familiar voice.

"That echo sounded like Wally," said May.

"No! It's me! Follow my whistling and find me!" Wally called out as he whistled.

"Let's go get Wally," said Brendan as he followed the sound, jumping pits of wires and punching down a door. "There you are! We found you." He also found Rose in there. "Rose? What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story, Brendan, but Team Aqua's up to something sinister…"

"Right now, let's just focus on getting out of here," said Wally.

"We can get out through Mauville City's exit," said Brendan. "This maze is connected to its underground power plant."

"Whose idea was it to let you read the encyclopedia?" asked Rose.

"Now's not the time to rant about my knowledge. Now is the time to get out of here."

---

"I don't get it. Why can you read it when we can't?" asked Duncan.

"Why can't _you_? It looks like regular English letters to me," said Kamon.

"To us, it's a bunch of symbols," explained Crystal. "Maybe you're seeing it differently."

"'The more Kamon learns, the more danger he is put in.' I think it's telling me to stop."

"But don't stop right now," said Duncan hurriedly. "We'll be behind you if you need our help."

---

"I got dad's note," explained Brendan. "Yes, Team Aqua's up to something."

"We couldn't see the faces of the people who captured me," said Wally. "I was blindfolded. But I thought I recognized one of their voices. I know I've heard the name Geotica before."

"Geotica? Nope, we don't know any Geotica," said Brendan bluntly. "Maybe he knows who Shelly is. Um, May, please be careful…!"

May tripped into exposed wires, shaking and yelling as electricity flowed through her body. She barely managed to climb away, sparks around her.

"Don't touch her," warned Brendan. "You might get a shock."

"That smarts… I've got to watch where I'm going."

After searching for an exit, they found a control room. "Uh, maybe we could call somebody to take us out of here," said Wally. "We're after all not personnel."

"Okay, then," said Rose. "After we get out of here, we run to Verdanturf, through Rusturf, and back home!"

"We're going home _now_?" asked May, bamboozled. "But we're on a journey!"

"We'll get through that later," said Rose. "Right now, you've got to take me home."

I just hope nobody tries to delay the journey home like in the first Pokémon Quest. Otherwise, it'd be clichéd. Fortunately, they're not going on a boat cruise this time around – just through a tunnel.

Brendan said through a microphone, "Uh, attention, attention. We're looking for a way out of the power plant. We're in the control room and we're not personnel."

Sure enough, an old man with the nametag "Wattson" arrived. He exclaimed, "You're Professor Birch's kids!" seeing Brendan and Rose. "I've had to fight two Team Aqua Grunts just to reach here."

"You're Wattson! Good to see you again," said Brendan. "Could you show us the way out? Team Aqua kidnapped Wally and Rose here, and we just saved them."

"Well, no problem, kid! Follow me!"


	8. Rusturf Opens

"I can't believe we're finally out of that power plant," said Rose. "That really scared me, since I was worried nobody would save me."

"I was worried the same thing too," said Wally. "But I kept faith."

"Now that we're out, let's see if Rusturf Tunnel is finally open now," offered May. "If it is, then we could go through there and get home in no time!"

---

Heading west, Brendan, May, Wally and Rose arrived at Verdanturf City. The fragrant scent of roses and violets was refreshing. Wally's asthma seemed to subside.

"It's… so wonderful," said Brendan, who gulped in the scent. "I can't stop smelling it."

May pulled Brendan through the city. "The smell may be irresistible, but you can't be, so move it, Brendan!"

After a trek, the four reached a house. "That's my cousin Wanda's house," said Wally. "It's got that green roof. The others have the blue roofs. It just sticks out like a sore thumb."

And so he knocked on the door. "Anybody there?" The door opened. The woman opening the door resembled a feminine Wally. "Wanda!"

"Hello, Wally! How are things?"

"Great. My friends and I are traveling Hoenn to find Shelly," explained Wally. He then entered the house along with Rose, Brendan and May.

"Mom? Dad?" Brendan was surprised to see them both in Wanda's house.

"Hi Brendan," greeted Brendan's mother, Tanya.

"I guess you're wondering how we escaped Team Aqua. We bribed them into releasing us and they took the bribe!" exclaimed Professor Birch. "Oh, those pirates are so greedy."

"Why wasn't Rose released?" asked Brendan.

"I was recaptured," answered Rose. "I tried to escape."

"Okay." Brendan felt that his family was safe now. "So is Rusturf Tunnel done?"

"Almost," responded Wanda.

"Hey… what's this?" Brendan found the unfolded military entrenching tool in his pocket. "I still got this shovel from Granite Cave!"

"You had it with you all this time and forgot about it?" asked May incredulously.

"Yeah, that's stupid of me. Well, let's dig it!" Brendan then left the house and into the tunnel, jumping the construction line.

---

Brendan called out Deep-Six. "Come on, Deep-Six. Let's dig through this tunnel." Brendan and the mudpuppy then began to dig their way through the rocky dirt. "This is gonna take a while." He also didn't seem thrilled about the fact that he jumped a roadblock.

May and Wally then joined in. "Let's all work together to dig through this tunnel!"

As they went through, however, it turned out that somebody else was trying to break through as well.

"I made it!" exclaimed the man. "The name's Anton Tenmag. I've been digging through to get to my girlfriend, Wanda Syntheprove."

"Really? That's my cousin," said Wally. "We both did it! We've finished the shortcut!"

---

A few days later, Norman read in the newspaper, "Digging of Rusturf Completed"

"Gloria, look at this! May's in today's paper!" The two saw the pictures of Brendan, May and Wally.

In his room, Kamon read the same news on his computer. "Wow, I guess that means a shortcut."

Kamon sighed happily as he started to leave his computer; however, he found an image of a familiar face in another news article: "Sootopolis Biologist Still Missing"

The article read:

Lewis Pantor, a Pokemon biologist from Sootopolis City, was reported missing on August 20, 2196 and has still not been found. A police spokesperson has confirmed that they are questioning friends and colleagues as before but have had no new information. "We are investigating all leads, but have had no new information on this case," said Dennis Intem, a detective of Hoenn Regional Police. "We're asking for public assistance. Anyone with information on the issue is encouraged to contact us at 555-0521."

Kamon then remembered that the man in the picture looked identical to the one in his dream. "That's him."

---

The weeks passed on and all Kamon could think about was Pantor. On his computer, he read previous news articles dating back to 2190. Articles included "Sootopolis Biologist Named Pokemon Professor of 2190" Another article, this time from 2194, had the headline "Pantor Awarded Akomn Corporation Grant". Finally, another one from 2196 had the headline, "Hikers Find Remains in Viridian Forest". And last was the article he read last month.

Kamon had no idea why he remembered Pantor, or even what he looked like if he didn't know the professor. Was the professor still missing, or was he dead? "Man, it's not good for me to keep obsessing over this, Axel."

Gloria headed into the room. "That's right, Kamon. The more you think about it, the more it'll agitate you."

"I guess I should get Gold and Crystal. Maybe we should go on a road trip through Hoenn."

"That's a good idea."

---

"Hey, Gold and Crystal, let's just take the stress off of trying to find out about Pantor and go on a road trip through Hoenn," offered Kamon. "What do you say? Rusturf Tunnel's all cleared out now, so we can pass through it."

"Good idea, Silver," said Crystal. "You've been getting so isolated from us. Maybe we should get reacquainted."

---

Kamon started the car and drove out of Littleroot Town. Axel and Spike were sitting with Duncan in the back. "I've got plenty of money, so expenses shouldn't be a big problem. I've been doing chores and odd jobs to save up the money."

"Okay, then, just make sure we don't go broke before we reach a toll booth," warned Duncan. "Rusturf Tunnel might actually cost money to go through."

And so, Kamon drove through the freeway past Oldale and Petalburg and through the forest. Upon arriving at Rustboro City, they saw a sign advertising "Rusturf Tunnel Construction Completed! New shortcut to Verdanturf!"

"Yes!" exclaimed Kamon. "Now we can get there!"

"Brendan, May and Wally beat us to there," explained Crystal.

"It took them days," shot back Duncan. "It'll take us just this morning."

"We're just on a road trip," said Kamon, trying to shut Duncan and Crystal up. "But who knows, we might find more clues to my dad's whereabouts."

"Let's go to Devon Corporation to return their inventions they gave us," offered Duncan. "I packed them in the trunk."

---

At Devon Corporation, the three offered the Pokemon Babel Helmet back to Toseph Jupim. "Oh, keep it. I think you've earned that. How were the results?"

Kamon strapped the helmet on Axel. The helmet's computer said, "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I'd like to take a moment to say this: Never trust a Pokemon you don't understand. Obviously, I can talk, but I'd like to sit back with Spike for now."

"Well, then, good luck on your road trip," Toseph said.

---

And so, Kamon drove through Route 116 to the entrance to Rusturf Tunnel. However, they found out that it was a toll road: $150.

"Got the money?" asked Duncan.

"Yeah." Kamon reached into his wallet and pulled out a $100 bill as well as a $50 bill. "Here you go, the toll." He handed the money to the toll taker and drove into the tunnel.

A Whismur screeched in the middle of the road. Kamon slammed the brakes. "Will that Pokemon please shut up?" The Whismur's screech was of the same volume as a jet plane. Kamon quickly rolled up the windows to muffle the sound.

"I read that it stops when its ears are shut," said Crystal. She left the car, covering her ears as she approached Whismur and covered its ears. The screaming stopped, or they became deaf. The car windows luckily didn't break.

"Good thing the windows are Plexiglas," said Kamon. "Otherwise, we'd be suffering huge glass injuries."

"I'm gonna catch that Whismur!" Duncan exclaimed as he exited the car and tossed a Great Ball. The Pokemon disappeared into the ball. "Whew, I'm glad that's over."

Axel meowed at Spike. The Togepi said "Toge, toge" to reply back. No damage to the eardrums.


	9. Crossing the Desert

Kamon drove out through the tunnel and into Verdanturf Town. "I guess it's a good thing cars use hydrogen fuel cells now, so that there's no pollution," remarked Crystal. "Petroleum has gotten _way_ too scarce now and it pollutes."

"Let's see if Brendan, May and Wally are still here," said Duncan. "Stop at a phone booth, or maybe at a store, so I can find Wanda Syntheprove's address."

"Okay, then."

---

Kamon parked the car at a 7-Eleven. Duncan exited the car and headed toward the phone booth, reading the S section in the phone book. "Syntheprove… Syntheprove… Here it is, Wanda Syntheprove, 620 Roselia St." Duncan wrote the address on a Post-It note.

Kamon and Crystal entered the store, recalling Axel and Spike since the Pokémon couldn't enter.

Kamon searched the snack shelves for some food. He picked up a bag of Doritos, as well as some beef jerky for Axel.

Meanwhile, Tabitha and Courtney were also present in the store.

Tabitha put a cup to the Slurpee fountain dispenser and pulled the lever. The flavored slush drink poured into the cup. "All right, it's full of Coca-Cola goodness."

Courtney told him, "I'm glad Maxie gave us a complementary week off with our promotion. I guess they did believe us after all when we said we were with Team Rocket before. That was easy. I remember when I was told that my dad lives in Lilycove. Let's pay him a visit. What do you say?"

"Sure he still lives here? That was many years ago. He could have moved since."

"I think I'll read the phone book to see if he's there or not."

Kamon then headed toward the Slurpee machine. "Excuse me, guys." He filled a cup with Mountain Dew-flavored slush.

"Hey, doesn't that dude look familiar?" asked Tabitha.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that's Kamon Stelldox, the kid we bagged last year," recapped Courtney.

Kamon was surprised as he turned around. Those people were Tabitha and Courtney. "Oh, man, not you guys again."

"Don't worry, Kamon, we're not bad guys anymore," said Tabitha. "Uh, I hope we're not."

"That's okay," said Kamon. He could tell that Tabitha was being honest. "You just surprised me, that's all. What are you doing here in Hoenn?"

"We joined Team Magma," said Courtney.

"What's that?" asked Kamon.

"It's this cool club where we clean the land," explained Tabitha. "We're based up in Mt. Chimney."

"Maybe I'll visit you sometime," offered Kamon.

"Who are those guys?!" Duncan and Crystal said, flustered.

"These guys are Tabitha and Courtney. Do you remember them? They're good guys now. Well, see you later."

---

Duncan, Crystal and Kamon headed toward Wanda's house.

Kamon knocked on the door. Wally answered... or was it Wally?

"Hi, Wally. Are Brendan and May inside?"

"Oh, I'm not Wally," responded "Wally" in a feminine voice. "I'm his cousin Wanda. And yes, they're inside."

The three went into the living room. "Hello, guys."

May then greeted, "Good to see you again! Going on your own journey?"

"Yeah. We're on a road trip," said Crystal. "We met some old friends in this town."

"We're going to meet them at Mt. Chimney," added Duncan. "We just wanted to check and see if you're okay."

---

The next day, Kamon drove east through Mauville City, then north, and the three were on the long road to Mt. Chimney and Lavaridge Town.

"According to the PokéNav's map," stated Crystal, "we have to cross Mauville Desert. That's why I packed a lot of water bottles.

"According to the PokéNav's Guidebook," stated Duncan, "there are oases in the desert. We can refill water bottles there."

"Hey, my map displays those oases!" exclaimed Crystal.

Suddenly, the car crashed into a rocky ditch. The airbags immediately inflated to protect Kamon and Duncan.

Spike, Crystal and Axel were still firmly strapped in the backseat unharmed.

Everyone exited the car. "Oh, man, now the car's a wreck," said Kamon. "At least I've got insurance to get it fixed."

Crystal ran to a nearby house for assistance. She knocked on the door.

"Hello?" asked a man.

"Our car crashed into a ditch," Crystal told the man. "But we've got insurance."

"Oh, yeah, that stupid ditch. Who could be the vandal to damage the road like that? Okay, then, we Winstrates will help you!"

The four members of the Winstrate family headed to the car and pulled it out using their Pokémon.

Kamon handed Victor, the father, the insurance policy. "Just use this to pay for the car repairs."

"I think it'll take a week for this car to be fixed," Victoria, the mother, estimated. "We'll call the tow truck to take the car to the repair shop at Mauville City."

---

Kamon, Duncan and Crystal walked on foot through the route. "This is how real Pokémon trainers travel," said Crystal happily. "On foot."

Kamon wasn't satisfied. "I feel like I can run this road." He sped up, running. Duncan and Crystal tried to catch up with him, but grew tired out. Kamon, however, didn't feel worn out the slightest bit. Seeing the other two, he slowed down.

The surrounding temperature increased as they traveled. "I think we're reaching the desert," said Duncan. Sand began to make way for the road. "Good thing we packed plenty of water bottles, since we don't know if we'll reach an oasis."

"If that's the case, we can't stay at the road," said Kamon. "It's been totally hidden under the sand. But we could use the PokéNav to find our way around."

---

Tabitha and Courtney, back at Mt. Chimney, were in their apartment. "Hey, Courtney, let's go see what we can do now that we're higher up."

"Sure thing, Tabitha," said Courtney. "We did just get our paychecks today."

---

At the bar, the two sat on stools. "Two beers, please," requested Tabitha, slapping down money.

The bartender filled two cups with Juggo Beer from a tap. "Here ya go."

"Wow, he didn't even card us," said Courtney, amazed. "I guess that wouldn't matter, since I'm twenty-one now. Cheers." The two clanged their cups together.

"We got our first drink. At age twenty-two. Totally awesome!" declared Tabitha.

The two started consuming their beverages. "So, we're going up the volcano soon. Maybe our old friends will be there."

"Let's go out for a night at Lavaridge!"

---

Duncan, Crystal and Kamon trudged through the desert. Axel hopped through the loose sand, with Spike on his back holding the Persian's collar.

Kamon and Axel knew exactly where to go. But the others were unsure. The abundant heat had gotten to them. But for some reason, it didn't get to either Axel or Kamon.

"I see an oasis!" shouted Duncan.

Kamon, however, couldn't see anything around. "What? Where? I don't see it anywhere."

"It's in front of us," said Crystal. "It's so blue..."

"I- I don't see any water, just sand," Kamon showed them. "You've obviously gotten too dehydrated! Drink some water." He handed them a water bottle. In the horizon, he could see the sun setting. "It looks like it's going to be dark soon."

---

As night fell, the temperature dropped rapidly. Duncan and Crystal felt a lot better, but they became scared.

A provoked Cacturne suddenly attacked! Kamon quickly switched to battle mode and dodged out of its way.

Axel jumped and struck the living cactus, digging in his claws and biting into the plant body repeatedly. The Persian then suddenly cried out in pain and fell back into the sand. He had been pricked by the cactus' razor-sharp needles.  
Duncan then called out Ember. "Quick, let's take care of Cacturne!"

Axel then went to work removing the needles from his body, using his paws and teeth. These would heal up right away. After removing the needles, Axel pounced once again towards the cactus Pokémon, this time not letting any needles stop him. He then bit into the Cacturne repeatedly, gripping its body.

Duncan then pulled out a PokéBall and tossed it at the cactus. The ball shook a few times. The cactus then popped out and ran off into the desert.

"It was worth a try," assured Crystal. "At least it won't attack us again."

---

In the morning, Tabitha had gotten a notice from Maxie ordering him and Courtney to appear on Mt. Chimney. "Cool! We get to go on the volcano!"


	10. Meet Me at the Volcano

Duncan, Crystal and Kamon were still walking through the desert. "When are we getting out of the desert?" questioned Duncan.

"Just five more miles," assured Kamon. "We can do it!"

"But you're the one who can easily adjust to temperatures like this," said Crystal. "We're not meant to adapt here."

---

Duncan, Crystal and Spike grew exhausted and thirsty. Kamon and Axel were shocked to see that they passed out from heat exhaustion. "Oh, no! What am I supposed to do now?"

Kamon saw that they were near an oasis, then gave them water to keep them alive. "We've got to get help. Put this helmet on, Axel. Call for help!"

Axel then rushed through the end of the desert. One hour later, he returned with a search party.

"We have a problem here," said Kamon. "My friends passed out from heat exhaustion."

---

In Lavaridge, Duncan, Crystal and Kamon relaxed in a hot spring. Flannery, the town's Gym Leader, was resting there as well. "Feeling better?" asked Flannery.

"My brain's all fried," said Crystal, still dazed.

"The temperature was starting to get to me, too," admitted Kamon. "At least now we're refreshed." He then climbed out of the spring, dried himself off and picked up his Hawaiian shirt.

"Where are you going?" asked Duncan.

"I'm going to Mt. Chimney."

"The cable car's not running at this time," said Crystal.

"I'll climb up."

"You don't know your rear-end from your forehead! How would you know how to climb?"

---

Nevertheless, Kamon walked toward Mt. Chimney. He remembered that Tabitha and Courtney would welcome him there.

He then started to climb up the rocky mountain. Amazingly, he could do this easily. It was lines and angles he had to follow. He wondered if Tabitha and Courtney would be giving him a warm welcome.

Duncan and Crystal looked out from Lavaridge City. "Look!" shouted Duncan. "Silver's climbing up the volcano!"

"He could hurt himself," said Crystal.

"I don't think so." Duncan saw that Kamon was climbing up perfectly. "He seems to be able to do it."

"We'd better take the cable car and catch up with him."

"It's broken, remember?"

"We'll wait until it's fixed."

---

Meanwhile, Kamon had reached the top. He saw the cable car gears. They were apparently out of order. No matter, Kamon could just fix them. He saw a toolbox along with a piece of paper (presumably the blueprint) and went to work. Soon, the machine was fixed. He jumped down to the ground below, managing to easily land on his feet with little shock. Tabitha and Courtney were surprised as they saw Kamon.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Tabitha. "How'd you do that?"

"What?"  
"You jumped from a high ledge," explained Courtney.

"I had to get down here."

"People generally use ladders or staircases," said Courtney. "They don't jump down below."

"Well, there are no ladders here," said Kamon.

"In any case, you're not really supposed to be here," said Courtney. "So just stay casual."

---

Duncan, Crystal, Spike and Axel rode up the cable car. "Hey, it works now," said Duncan. "Somebody must have fixed it."

"Lucky us. Too bad Silver missed it," said Crystal. "He could have gone up with us."

---

Tabitha and Courtney led Kamon to the Mt. Chimney crater. "It's hot in here, so don't stay in this spot for too long," warned Courtney. The sweat somewhat came to her forehead. "Ya got that?"

"Yeah, but I don't feel anything." Kamon knew that his body could quickly adapt. He then found that the others had finally caught up with him. "We're going into Team Magma's hideout."

"I'm not so sure, Silver," said Duncan, skeptical. "They might be like Team Rocket."

"Well, Tabitha and Courtney are our friends now," said Kamon. "We can trust them."

---

"You've got a good place to live in," said Duncan. He was amazed to see how Tabitha and Courtney have risen through ranks again, like they did in Team Rocket.

"Remember, we sneaked you through," said Courtney. "So don't alert anybody to your being here."

"Who's your boss?" asked Crystal. "I hope he's nice..."

"Oh, you don't wanna meet him," warned Courtney. "He's mean to people like you."

"Yeah, man, it's best for you not to know," added Tabitha.

"Okay, then, what do we do now?" asked Kamon.

"Let's go to the casino." Tabitha then gave the trainers red Magma hoodies. "Wear these, so you totally don't get us in trouble."

---

At the casino, Kamon looked at the various machines. There were many mechanical cycles running throughout the room. "I think I'll try the Roulette."

Kamon then inserted his wager of $100 into the money slot. This was the last of his money after car repairs. He saw the board moving and knew to win, he would have to put the ball in at the precisely right time. He picked one spot that was to be filled in with the ball - yellow Marill. At the right time, he placed the ball into the outer circle. It spun around and went into the spot. Yes! $1,200 came out of the slot. He pocketed the money.

Kamon then realized that he had found a way to make quick money. He then inserted five more balls into the Roulette, making more money in the process. He then stopped, seeing that he could overload the machine. He had made $7,200 in the process.

Duncan and Crystal were amazed. "Wow!" exclaimed Duncan. "How did you do that?"

"I just looked at the board and knew the exact time. So now I'd like to try blackjack. Gold, let's work together and share the money."

---

Kamon and Duncan then headed toward a blackjack table.

"The game is blackjack, young men," said the dealer. "Either one who gets the highest value worth of these cards wins, as long as you don't exceed twenty-one, or you lose and that's a bust."

"Sounds simple," said Kamon. "Let's play. We'll each wager $1,200."

Kamon and Duncan were handed cards facing the back. The dealer's cards were worth nineteen points.

Duncan and Kamon both flipped one of their cards. Duncan's card was a seven of hearts. Kamon's card was a four of spades.

Duncan knew all he would need was at least a nine to beat the dealer. But he was unsure which card to select. He flipped a six of clubs. Now he had thirteen points. It was getting risky.

Kamon scoped his cards. He would need sixteen more points to beat the dealer. He picked one that he knew was worth the most. An ace of spades. Now Kamon had fifteen points. Just five more to beat the dealer.

---

Crystal looked around. She hoped nobody would find out that she, Duncan and Kamon were here illegally. Somebody was talking to a guard, pointing... toward her! "They found out..." The guard then came toward Crystal, who ran off to warn Duncan and Kamon.

Duncan had exceeded twenty-one points, losing his wager, but Kamon, who had doubled his, beat the dealer, earning $4,800 in the process! "Yes!"

"Guys! Team Magma's been alerted to us being here!" yelled Crystal. "We've got to leave now."

The three then ran out through the halls and back into Tabitha and Courtney's room.

"We're loaded with money now," said Kamon.

"Awesome," said Tabitha.

"But now we've been spotted by Team Magma," added Duncan. "We need to hide."

"Hide?" asked Courtney. "They'll just ransack the place."

"Well, then, deposit our money so that they can't steal it." Kamon gave Courtney his debit card. "Don't get any ideas, now!"

"Okay, then." Courtney ran towards an ATM machine. A guard asked her, "Have you seen any kids wandering around here?"

"Nope, I haven't."

"Whose card is that?" asked the guard.

"It's my card. I just needed to make a deposit." Courtney deposited the money into the machine. After doing this, she pulled out the debit card.

"Give me the card, please."

"Not a chance, pal. I ain't giving my money to anybody except Tabitha." She pocketed the card and ran into her apartment, giving Kamon his card. "They're coming in here, so you'd better get out through the fire escape."

---

Duncan and Crystal climbed down the chain ladder from the apartment. The Magmas were trying to break in, the door pounding.

"Did you lock the door?" asked Kamon.

"Yeah, but guards can still get in anyway," explained Courtney. "So get yourself out of here, alright?"

Kamon climbed out through the window and jumped down, landing on the ground. "Guys, when you find out about anything important Team Magma is going to do, please give us a call, alright?"

"You got it, dude," agreed Tabitha.  
The trainers ran through the crater. "It's so hot in here," said Duncan. "We can't stay for long, especially since Team Magma is after us."  
Kamon, however, had a feeling Team Magma was up to something suspicious. And so, he called Flannery through his PokéNav. "Flannery? I've got a feeling that something's not right up here in Mt. Chimney. We've found Team Magma's hideout. We're coming down right now."

---

Duncan, Crystal and Kamon headed back down the volcano. There, they met Flannery. "Hey, there. I've been waiting for you."

"Good, because we've found Team Magma's hideout," explained Kamon. "We can't go back in there, since we've attracted attention."

"But we have moles in there who'll give us information," added Duncan. Suddenly, his PokéNav rang. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, this is Courtney. We've been assigned to get the volcano to erupt."

"A volcano eruption?" said Duncan, getting nervous. "Are you crazy?"  
"I ain't kidding you, kid," said Courtney. "We're going at the edge of the crater now."

"Okay, then. See you there." Duncan hung up. Wow, that was fast! "We've got to go back."  
---

Everybody headed back into the volcano. The heat began to increase sharply. Molten magma began to rise up. On the other side was some sort of machine. "This is sick," said Duncan, angered that Team Magma would try to create a volcano eruption. "We've got to destroy that machine."

"Oh, no you don't!" shouted a Team Magma Grunt. "You're coming with me!"

Duncan and Crystal were attacked by ferocious hyena-wolf hybrids. Kamon dodged out of the way, managing to avoid falling into the magma below. "Come on, Axel, let's try to fight this guy." Axel then jumped toward one of the Mightyena, and stared it in the eyes. Kamon did the same with the wolves attacking Duncan and Crystal. The wolves suddenly calmed down. Kamon went over to pet them.

"Whoa, snap!" exclaimed the grunt. "You're too powerful for me. You scared them. I've got to tell the boss about this." The grunt then ran off.

"How'd you do that?" asked Duncan. "You calmed them down."

"I don't know. I guess I was born with it." Born? Kamon didn't have any memory of before he turned six. "In any case, let's destroy that machine. If I can fix the cable car, I can certainly _un_-fix this. But how do we get over there?"

Axel and Spike found a chain over the magma. It was taut to both sides. Axel carried Spike as he carefully tiptoed over to the other side.

"Why did the Pokémon cross the chain?" riddled Crystal. "To get to the machine on the other side!"

Wow! Axel was a great tightrope walker, too! Kamon then took baby steps and kept his balance as he crossed over the magma, which was rising. Kamon was starting to get burned.

_xyzzy..._

He used a wrench to bang the machine. Shrapnel flew out and into the magma.

"Help!" cried out Duncan and Crystal. Team Magma Grunts had grabbed them, taking them to their hideout.

"Hey! What the- We've been caught off-guard, and they got the jump on us!" exclaimed Kamon. He then punched into the machine's glass display with a rather large rock. He grabbed it. "Xyzzy!" he shouted. Kamon, Spike and Axel all disappeared back onto the base. "Oh, man, they got the jump on me and took Gold and Crystal. At least I got this rock."

"It looks like a piece of the meteorite stolen from Professor Cosmo in Fallarbor. As a consolation prize for reclaiming it, I'll give you this egg." Flannery gave Kamon a blue egg with white lines around it.

"So what will hatch?" asked Kamon.

"Maybe a new Pokémon," answered Flannery. "We'll try our best to save your friends." Suddenly, the volcano erupted. "Oh, no. I hope they didn't get killed!"

Kamon checked his PokéNav. Duncan and Crystal's could still be pinpointed. "Nope, they're in Team Magma's hideout, so they're okay."

---

Kamon rested that night. He didn't seem to rest peacefully, though. Memories were flooding in again.

He was in a room. It was raining outside. The man – Pantor. He was looking at him. A flash of light. Pantor was being attacked and killed by a Pokémon and Giovanni was watching!

Kamon awoke from the dream with the realization that he had recovered more of the memory than was shown by the fortune teller.


	11. Search for Gold and Crystal

Kamon awoke the next day. He knew that he would need to find Duncan and Crystal by going back into Mt. Chimney. The egg didn't hatch yet, so he would have to be careful with it.

"It looks like we're on our own now," said Kamon. "We've got to hurry and save Gold and Crystal before something bad happens to them." They risked their lives to save him. Now it was time to return the favor.

---

Kamon headed east of town, where he had come from to get refuge. Ashes fell down as he traveled. It was getting a bit colder as well, due to the sun being blocked by the cloudy ash in the sky.

The ash in the ground had made Kamon itch. It felt finer than sand at a beach.

He felt the magma level underground slowly returning to its normal state. The eruption was just about over. "I think it's safe now."

Axel ran through the ashy grass and felt some ash get into his nose, causing him to sneeze. Spike fell off the Persian and landed into a pile of the gray dust.

Kamon frantically dug up the ash to search for Spike, who popped out from it. "There you are. I got worried about you."

Upon reaching the other side, he was disappointed to see that a massive rockslide blocked the way. He tried climbing it, but fell back to the ground. "It looks like we'll have to climb up the volcano."

Kamon reached the foot of the volcano and started climbing. Suddenly, though, there was a rise in magma level, along with the smell of sulfur. Burning rocks flew out of the volcano and right to where Kamon was standing. He swiftly recalled Axel and Spike, and jumped down to the ground. "It looks like Team Magma's gone nervous from the recent rash of intrusion," said Kamon. "It appears to be their new security system." He pulled out his PokéNav and tried calling Crystal.

"Hi there. Ha-ha-ha, you're talking to a machine, but don't be shy..." Kamon hung up.

"It's just her answering machine. They might have turned it off." And so he tried calling Duncan, expecting just another answering machine message."

---

Duncan and Crystal, handcuffed, were being held in an office for interrogation by a Team Magma officer. Duncan's PokéNav rang. The officer questioned Tabitha, "You didn't turn off his PokéNav?!"

"Shoot! I didn't. Sorry. We'll be right back."  
Tabitha and Courtney exited the room and saw the caller ID: "STELLDOX KAMON, 586-555-0169"

"Hello?" asked Courtney.

"Courtney? This is Silver. Keep my location a secret, but I'm heading toward Mauville City. The reason? I don't really know."

"We'll be leaving for a while to go to the Weather Institute. It's on the way to Fortree City," explained Courtney. "That happens tomorrow, so you'd better get there before we do!"

"You're on the right track, dude," added Tabitha. "We'll keep you posted."

"Thanks! Just make sure Gold and Crystal are okay."

"We won't force them to self-incriminate themselves," said Courtney. "That should buy you some time."

"Yeah, forced self-incrimination's illegal."

---

Kamon headed toward the Meteor Falls west of Fallarbor. He could see an amazing view of the surrounding area. There was a small house at the east and mountainous terrain. In the distance, he could see a large city. "That's Rustboro City," remarked Kamon. "It looks like it'll take a long time for us to get there."  
Spike walked toward the water, seeing his reflection. He then came down to get a drink… but fell over with a splash!

"Spike!" Kamon then dove into the water to save the Togepi.

Spike looked around and saw a Carvanha swimming around timidly. When seeing Spike, however, the piranha turned hostile, coming right at him. Spike tried to swim away, but his arms were too small and flimsy. He also felt a pressure in his chest. Carvanha then proceeded to chomp, but Axel headed down just in time as he bit the piranha. Kamon proceeded to grab Spike and swim back to the surface. Axel screeched out in pain as Carvanha's protective spikes poked into his body. He swam back to the surface to recover.

Kamon, Axel and Spike then began to fall down a large waterfall!

---

Kamon had lost all senses when he landed to the bottom of the waterfall, but regained consciousness soon after. He was out of the water, and he saw an orange-haired woman checking to see if he was okay. "Wha- what happened?"

"You fell down a waterfall," explained the woman. "I'm Lanette Overeus, Bill Microbyte's partner in creating the Pokémon Storage System and Wally Syntheprove's aunt. I'm Wally's mother's sister. You must be Kamon Stelldox."

"That's me," said Kamon as he got onto his feet. "My friends have been kidnapped by Team Magma. I was kidnapped too, once, by Team Rocket last year."

"You must have gone through a lot in your life. My nephew and his friends are going to Fortree City right now."

"Fortree City… that's where you've got to pass the Weather Institute… I've got to go." Kamon ran out of the house and through the valley, trying to get back to Rusturf Tunnel. Lanette saw this as strange. Why was he in a hurry?

---

Kamon, since he didn't have a car now, tried to pass the tunnel. The toll taker told him, "Excuse me! You need to drive through here."

Hmm. That didn't stop Kamon. Maybe crossing through the tunnel isn't the answer. He'd need to find some other way across. He then remembered when he climbed Mt. Chimney. He could climb the mountainous terrain and make his way to Mauville, recover his car (it could easily have been fixed early; the Winstrates probably aren't very good at estimates), and make his way to the Weather Institute.

And so, when no guards were watching, Kamon scrambled himself up the rocky wall. But when he saw security cameras scoping the terrain, he quickly jumped down before he could be detected. "I guess climbing is out of the question." It seemed he had no choice but to hitchhike. The problem was, he didn't know what to do. Then he remembered seeing _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, where one of the symbols was a "thumbs-up" sign. And so, he held his thumb up, walking around the road aimlessly. A car pulled up to him. "Jasmine?"

"Hello again, Silver. Where's Gold and Crystal?"

"Uh, I can't really say, but I'm supposed to meet them at the Weather Institute. Could you please drop me off at Mauville City?"

"Sure thing. Hop in."

---

At noon, Jasmine and Kamon arrived at Mauville City. "Thanks for the ride," thanked Kamon as Jasmine drove off. He headed to Rydel's Repairs.

"I'm here to claim my car. I'm Kamon Stelldox."

Rydel, the manager, then explained, "I can't seem to find you car. I've got nothing for you, kid, I'm sorry."

"Thanks anyway." Kamon walked out. Who stole his car? In any case, he would have to walk to the Weather Institute.

On the other side of town, Olivia was in the car, looking at Kamon through binoculars. She then drove off.

Kamon then ran east, following the PokéNav's PDA.

---

A man, hidden in shadows, sat on his chair, waiting for somebody. There was a knock on the door. The man stood up and opened the door. The man who processed Olivia's resignation had arrived.

"Thought you'd come around. I never thought the secretive guy from work-"

The obscured man then grabbed the other man by the neck and twisted his spine, killing him instantly.

"I'm sorry to do this to you, but I can't have the company find out what I've been doing," the mystery person said. "It could endanger me."


	12. Rainy Days

Kamon ran through the bike bridge crossing the stream. He was a lightning bolt – ready for a marathon! Axel was just as fast. People riding their bicycles watched them in awe.

"That kid's really fast."

"He's obviously in a hurry."

"Where's he running to?"

Both Kamon and Axel could feel the frequent updrafts and downdrafts as well as the crackling rise of static electricity in the air as they ran into the plains. Thunder then boomed loudly as rain fell. Using the winds and data from satellites, he predicted the storm would end at exactly 10:36 PM. He checked his PokéNav to see that it was 6:36 PM right now. Exactly four hours from then, the storm would be over.

Kamon and Axel dashed through the tall grass as the rain crashed down. Linoone, Oddish, and Tropius scattered for shelter.

An hour later, the trainer and his Persian dashed through mud and sank in, slowing them down.

"Hey, what happened? Don't stop – the Weather Institute is just a mile from here!"

Checking the map, he could see that Duncan and Crystal had arrived at the institute. There was little time left – and exactly three hours until the storm ended.

Axel grunted as he sank into the mud, slogging through it.

Kamon proceeded to pick him up. "Don't worry, Axel, we'll get there." Kamon tossed the Persian to solid ground. Axel returned the favor by biting Kamon's shirt, pulling him as well. "Thanks, man."

---

Brendan, May and Wally had arrived at the Weather Institute. "'Meet me at the Weather Institute'," recited Brendan.

"Well, we're there, but where's Steven?" asked May.

"He said he'd be inside," said Brendan. "'I'm in the second floor'." They then went inside, opening the door.

"Who are you and what is your business?" asked a security guard.

"I'm Brendan Birch and I'm here to see Steven Stone." He wasn't told the reason why.

The guard pulled out a small case, which opened up to reveal a toy Azurill. What was that gas being sprayed out of its mouth? As Brendan wondered this, he, May and Wally passed out.

---

Kamon and Axel reached a tall building. Checking his PokéNav, he found that Duncan and Crystal were at this spot. "This must be the Weather Institute." They then entered the building via the automated door.

It was eerily quiet. "Where is everybody?" asked Kamon. He knew Duncan and Crystal were around here, but where _exactly_ in here? "I guess we'd better start searching."

When he climbed up the stairs, he slipped back down, because the stairs were wet. "Unh!" He hoped that anybody who had invaded didn't hear that.

But somebody did, and they were walking right down!

The person walking down asked, "Who's that?" A woman with hair similar to Jasmine's, only purple, had headed down. She was apparently a security guard. "You look like you've just left the rain."

"I did."

"You're Kamon, right? Jasmine told me about you. I'm her sister, Winona." Winona looked out the window. "Who knows when the rain will let up?"

"Two hours, forty-five minutes and thirty seconds from now. At _precisely_ 10:36 PM."

"You think?" Kamon said nothing. "You know your meteorology."

"Is it possible to get any further up?"

"Not with my current credentials. Those guys from Team Aqua forced security to neutralize all of the codes," explained Winona. "Nothing will open the doors now." She then remembered something. "But I did see three other kids who came here. They've been sprayed with sleeping gas by a Team Aqua Grunt impersonating a security guard. Who knows where they are now?"

---

Brendan awoke from his sleep. "Ugh… Sleeping gas," he slurred, still feeling tired. He looked around to see that he and his friends were in some storage room. Where was this place? He got up, trying to beat his exhaustion. True, in school he always felt slightly tired, no matter how much sleep he got, but not _this_ lethargic.

He tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Why would anybody lock a door from the _outside_?" This only worked in prisons, not for a storage room, since anybody would be able to unlock the door and get _in._

"Help! Help!" He slammed on the door, hoping that somebody would respond. No response. He sat down in wonder. There had to be a way out. But their Pokémon had been taken away. Now what?

Five minutes later, the metal door started to open. Brendan moved out of the way. He was relieved to see Steven. "Long time no see, Brendan."

May and Wally then regained consciousness. "What's going on?" asked May.

"Steven to the rescue," remarked Brendan.

"He found us." Wally then asked Steven, "Why'd you invite us here?"

"Team Aqua's invaded this place, so I need your help in getting them out of here."

"Why us?" asked May. "We're just regular trainers."

"I can see your potential," explained Steven. "That's why my dad gave you your PokéNavs. Now let's get out of here before Team Aqua comes back to investigate."

---

Brendan, May, Wally and Steven searched around the lab for the Weather Institute directors, but they weren't anywhere to be found. Obviously, the directors were in a shelter, and Team Aqua was holding them there.

Suddenly, the thunderstorm outside grew so intense that the building suffered a power surge. "The power line's down," said Brendan in fear.

Kamon, who was two floors down, said the same thing. The wind shifted, so his earlier prediction of it ending at 10:36 PM had been disproved. "This makes no sense." His brain could easily process data from global weather satellites. It was numbers and patterns. Maybe he was wrong here. Or maybe something was causing it to change frequently.

Winona turned on a flashlight. "Now there's no power to open the doors. We're stranded out here."

Kamon's heart started to rapidly beat. What was he going to do now?

Axel searched around and found an air vent. The vent was too small for a normal human to get through, but then again, Kamon wasn't all that normal. Spike would definitely fit through.

Kamon looked and saw the Persian clawing its way into the vent. "Great idea!" He dashed over and pulled the grate. But it was screwed shut. Kamon painstakingly unscrewed the grate, enabling him to pull it away. Too bad the air conditioning didn't work right now.

Axel then pushed himself into the vent. It was very dark to see, but he had inherent night vision. With that, he was able to see what was in front of him.

Kamon got down to the floor and tried to push himself in. It was harder for him, since he was larger, but then he got help from Winona, who pushed him in.

"I'm afraid I can't fit through, so you're on your own from here on," said Winona. "Be careful!"

Kamon wasn't sure if she meant being careful in the vents or while finding his friends. He guessed it was a little of both.

After five minutes of crawling through, and three more climbing up a vertical duct, Kamon found another grating. He punched through it and pulled himself out.

"I never thought I'd be crawling in a building's air conditioning."

---

May's Torchic provided light as the trainers sneaked their way around.

"Hey, Wally, you said that your sister's in Team Aqua, right?" asked Steven.

Wally visibly tensed. "Uh… well…"

Brendan felt the stress building up. "I'd rather not say…"

"That's exactly right," said May. "Her name is Shelly. I think she's in a high rank."

Somewhere else, a female Aqua talked through her Bluetooth headset. "We got a problem," she said. "They've escaped and they're trying to bring us down."

"I hope you have a plan."

"I'll meet them upstairs."

---

Kamon called Duncan's PokéNav. "Hello?" asked Duncan.

"I'm inside now. Where are you?"

"Third floor. How about you?"

"I've just climbed out of an air vent, but the room numbers all begin with the number two."  
"So, you're in the second floor. Hurry up and get up here, or something bad might happen to us."

After hanging up, Kamon searched around for the stairs. There were none to be found. There was just an elevator that required a magnetic key. Even if he had the key, there was no power to run the elevator. Now he needed to find the circuit breakers.

While there was no upstairs, there was a downstairs. Downstairs, there was a power room. "Let's see…" There were many switches. What caught his eye, however, was "Main Power". It had been turned off automatically. Kamon pushed back the switch. All of the lights turned back on. "Hallelujah!"

Now that there was light, Kamon found an adjacent room with scientists scrambling to get free. But all of the doors were locked. Kamon unlocked them all. The occupants of the shelter were free! "Freedom!"

"Thanks, kid!"

"I owe you one!"

The leader walked to Kamon and told him, "I'm Leosty, the Chief Executive of this institute."

"I'm Kamon."

"Teams Aqua and Magma both invaded this place and locked us in the shelter. Since the power went out, the codes have been reset to their original settings. We can use our old pass-codes now!"

---

Brendan, May, Wally and Steven were surprised at the lights coming back on.

"I guess it was luck," said Brendan. "It was luck," he repeated.

"Too bad your luck's changed!" said a familiar voice.

"I know that voice – Shelly!" exclaimed Wally. "We finally found you!"

Shelly walked toward her brother. "Well, now that we've got the data for changing the weather, I gotta disappear to Lilycove. Ta-ta!"

"Oh, no you don't!" shouted Steven as he pursued Shelly. "Ready to get your butt kicked?"

"You wish!"

---

Kamon searched the third floor for Duncan and Crystal. In one door, Duncan shouted, "Right here, Silver!"

Kamon unlocked the door. He'd done it! "Hey, where's Team Magma?"

"They said something about an undersea cave in Eastern Hoenn," said Duncan. "They came here for a way to change the weather, and then to Mt. Pyre to get some red orb, so that they could summon some legendary Pokémon."

Crystal looked out the window. "The rain – it stopped."

Kamon checked the clock. "10:36 PM sharp," he stated. "I was right at first."

"You're a freaky meteorologist," joked Duncan. "Your brain's a lot more powerful than the top-of-the-line computer."

"They've been in a big rush, they left us here," joked Crystal. "So I guess we're reunited."

"Hey – you risked your lives to save me, so I decided to return the favor. Tomorrow, let's blow this joint."

Kamon could feel rumbling in his bag. The egg was hatching! He pulled out the egg and showed it to Duncan and Crystal. "I got this egg from Flannery. And it's hatching now!"

The shell cracked, and the baby creature inside struggled to break free. Duncan painstakingly helped pull the eggshell apart. The shaking made this difficult, but soon after, a baby Pokémon popped out!

"What is that?" asked Crystal. "It looks like a baby Wobbuffet."

"I've never seen one of those before," said Duncan.

---

Steven had lost the battle with Shelly. "You... destroyed me..."

"We surrender!" exclaimed Wally. "Please don't hurt us anymore."

Shelly could feel the sympathy she had toward her brother. "Well, kids, I guess you don't deserve any more beatings. What you need is a visit to my boss in Lilycove."


	13. Climbing Mt Pyre

A Team Magma Grunt searched the storage room for Duncan and Crystal. He told a superior, "Sir, they've been sprung!"

"What?" shouted the Admin. "It must be that kid again. He just managed to slip away." He then notified his boss via cell phone. "Sir, we've got a problem. Those two kids managed to escape."

"Track them down," ordered Maxie. "They may be headed for Lilycove."

"Yes, sir."

---

The next morning, a researcher searched the database. "Oh, no!" he shouted. "The database has been erased – our entire experiment, gone."

"That can't be!" exclaimed Leosty. "That's 20 terabytes of information and equations. Restore the data from the backups immediately!"

"Yes sir." The researcher then proceeded through the data restoration process, up to the exact time of the system crash. But some of the backup discs – specifically, the changing of the weather – had been stolen. "The intruders stole our weather change experiment."

---

"This is a Wynaut," said Winona. "The pre-evolution of Wobbuffet."

"Let's think of a name for it…" After a minute of decision, he decided, "Wyner, after actor George Wyner from _Spaceballs_."

Somebody knocked on the door. "Who could that be?" asked Winona.

Jasmine opened the door. "Hello?"

"Say, are there any Caliducts in there?" asked the shady man.

"Uh… no, can't say there are." She quickly shut the door. "There's some strange man asking for Gold and Crystal."

"Team Magma?" asked Winona.

"I don't know, but in any case, should we tell him?"  
The doorbell rang. "Let me handle it." Winona opened the door again.

"You look like one of those guys who broke into the Weather Institute. In that case-"

"Skip the story and bring Duncan and Crystal Caliduct to me."  
"Well, if you know too much, then forget it." The man then tried to force his way in. "Remember, I'm tough, so don't try to pick a fight with me!"

Crystal, who was in another room, was eavesdropping. "Team Magma's here! Let's split!"

Kamon opened a window, and climbed out. It was quite a drop, however, since all of the houses in Fortree were tree houses.

"Hey, Silver, there's a rope ladder here," said Duncan as he gestured to the ladder. He then let it drop to the ground and climbed down it. "Hurry, Crystal!"

Crystal was unsure what to do. She locked the door. The only hope of escaping was to climb out the window. Suddenly, the doorknob began to rattle. She quickly stepped out of the window and slid down the ladder.

Kamon climbed stealthily up to close the window, then climbed down and tossed the rope back onto the outcropping.

Back inside, the man opened the door to find… nothing. "I heard activity in here."

"Maybe you're just nuts," insulted Jasmine.

Kamon, Duncan, and Crystal then dashed out of Fortree.

"Where are we going to go from here?" asked Duncan.

"We need to get as far away from Team Magma as we can," explained Kamon.

"But we did the same for Team Rocket, and they still found us," recapped Crystal. "But then again, they're not specifically looking for us this time."  
The next town was Lilycove. Maybe there, they could get a ferry to Sootopolis. That was where Lewis Pantor taught. Maybe Pantor knew Kamon. After all, he did witness the professor's murder.

Kamon briefly considered telling Duncan and Crystal about the cleared memory, but decided not to. This wasn't a good time to do that.

---

"Pantor was identified. The police will start making connections," the man told Olivia.

"I'll find some low life to point the finger at."

---

Croc carried Duncan, Crystal, and Kamon to the center of the lake, through the strong currents. "Yow!" shouted Duncan. "There's some fierce fish in the water!"

"I think those are the Carvanha we were warned about," said Crystal. "We've gotten into their habitat!"

"Move it, Croc!" shouted Kamon. The Feraligatr swam faster, but a Carvanha chomped on his leg. Croc shrieked in pain, and wrestled with the fish. The three passengers were tossed aside and crash-landed to the center island.

Kamon saw Croc in the distance and quickly recalled him. "Where are we?" he asked.

They looked up, and saw a large mountain looming over them. "I think that's Mt. Pyre," Crystal said sadly. "Hoenn's Pokémon cemetery."

"Think Team Magma's still here?" asked Kamon.

---

Brendan, May and Wally, who were all handcuffed, were led through the Aqua Hideout just outside of Lilycove.

"Archie can't be all that bad." Brendan tried to think positive. "We shouldn't worry."

"Oh, no, he's bad," tortured Shelly. "You'll all be sorry you tried to mess with us."

The three were led into a room. A window showing Carvanha and Sharpedo swimming on the other side was on the other end.

"Hello, kids," greeted the man. "My name is Archie. I'm the leader of Team Aqua. I founded it on the basis that there would be more clean drinkable water, and to save the habitats of water creatures."

"Does that have anything to do with the shortage of water? The forest fires and dying out of water environments?" badgered Brendan. "What about the-"

"Yes! Exactly," interrupted Archie. "You name it, we want to fix all the water-related problems."  
"How exactly will you do that?" demanded Wally.

"All in due time, son," assured Archie. "All in due time…"

The positive thoughts actually worked. Archie seemed gentle… for now, at least.

"Where did Mr. Briney go?" asked Brendan.

"Don't worry about him," assured Archie. "We'll take you to see him if you'd like."

---

Duncan, Crystal, and Kamon climbed the mountain. Night had fallen during that time. Nothing grew in the ground. The graves appeared to be disturbed. The headstones had been defaced and the graves had been stomped on.

"Let's get away from here, _now_. I see some ectoplasmic beings around here," warned Kamon.

"You can't see ghosts," said Duncan. "There's no such thing."

"But I can see them. Can you, Axel?" He called out the Persian.

Axel could also see the spirits of Pokémon. But these weren't the kinds he was used to seeing. He tried to attack one, but went right through.

The ghost Pokémon revealed itself to Duncan and Crystal, after they discovered Kamon and Axel's enhanced vision.

"Ghost Pokémon are unaffected by Normal-type moves," explained Duncan. He checked the Pokédex to discover that the one Axel attacked was a Duskull. "Once it selects a target, it will doggedly pursue the victim until dawn! No! We're in pursuit now!"

Everybody ran to higher ground. "Let's hide in a cave!" exclaimed Crystal.

"Won't work," said Duncan. "It'll just go through the wall."

"I'll hold it off," announced Kamon. "Let's get moving, Sudowoodo!" He called out the fake tree Pokémon that had once been a natural roadblock to Ecruteak City. "Rock Throw!"

Sudowoodo throw rocks at Duskull. The ghost flinched slightly, but it wasn't very effective.

"Ghost Pokémon are weak against Dark-type moves!" shouted Duncan from the cave.

"Sudowoodo doesn't know any such moves!" A pin appeared and dug into Duskull, and a mini-ghost appeared, entering Sudowoodo's body. "You've been cursed!"

The curse slowly sapped the fake tree's energy until it passed out. "Come back! Let's fight him, Axel!"

The Persian then quickly calculated each of the moves he knew. One of them was a Dark-type move – Faint Attack! Axel readied up to attack as Duskull fired a ray of confusion at him. Axel sucker-punched the ghost, just narrowly dodging the ray.

It did a considerable amount of damage.

"Let's all climb up!" Kamon ordered Duncan and Crystal. "I'm close to beating Duskull."

The three proceeded to continue climbing up.

Axel did the honors by attempting one last sucker-punch at Duskull. The ghost then faded into the night.

Finally, they reached the top. "What's that strange light over there?" asked Crystal.

Kamon felt drawn to the strange, pulsating energy, following the light. When he reached a podium, he saw two orbs on pedestals.

"Here are the two orbs," said one man.

"I'll summon-" said another, but an electric shock in Kamon's brain distorted everything after that.

He suddenly blacked out.

---

In a dark alley in Rustboro City, Olivia searched the place for a low-life junkie, with cash in hand. Eventually, she found one. "Wanna make some quick money? There's no catch."

"Well, all right," said the junkie, who entered the car. Olivia drove off into the forest, and injected poison into him, killing the junkie in a matter of seconds.

---

Kamon awakened the next morning. "Wha- what happened?"

"Two guys went into the light with you, and made off with two orbs," explained Duncan. "Too bad we didn't get a closer look."

"You won't believe this – your car's here." Crystal showed Kamon the car nearby.

"Whoever stole it didn't think I would come here," said Kamon. "Maybe there's somebody out there who knows all about me, like why I can do amazing stunts."

"Could we be watched?" hypothesized Crystal. "Maybe by Team Magma?"

"Maybe those guys who grabbed those two orbs last night," decided Kamon. "But I blacked out suddenly, so I don't know for sure. Let's go to Lilycove."


	14. Reaquaintance at Lilycove

Kamon drove down the dirt road, and finally ended up back on the base of the mountain.

After two miles, they arrived at Lilycove. The city consisted of various houses, a large shopping mall, and a contest hall. East of the city was the ocean.

"How will we get through the ocean?" asked Duncan.

"You just let me handle that part," remarked Kamon. "I'm the navigator."

---

Courtney checked the address. "751 Corsola St."

"That's the address," verified Tabitha. "Should I ring?"  
"I'll ring. You need a good first impression, and this guy is my dad." Courtney then rang the doorbell, birth certificate and Magma ID ready.

An older man opened the door. "Hello?"  
"Claudio Ramalio? This is your daughter Courtney," introduced Tabitha. "I'm Tabitha, her boyfriend."

"You got proof?" asked Claudio.

Courtney showed him the identification – her ID to verify her name, and her birth certificate to prove the relationship. "That proof enough for you?"

Claudio then had the feeling of being reunited with a long-lost child. He then realized that that _was_ the case! "Yeah. Come on in."

---

At the Pokémon Center, Kamon used a PC to access the Internet. "Courtney did say her father lived in this town. If he does, then maybe she came to visit," he said to Duncan.

"Let's search for the last name Ramalio in Lilycove." Duncan typed in the search string. "Here's a result – Claudio Ramalio, 751 Corsola St."

After using the online map to view the whole town, Kamon now knew exactly where to go.

---

Kamon drove to the address, headed to the house and knocked on the door. Courtney answered it. "Hi there!"

"I found you! Tell me what Team Magma's up to!" shouted Kamon.

"We'll tell you, but first I'd like you to meet my father."

Kamon, Duncan and Crystal were taken to a den with an older man.

"You must be those kids Courtney was talking about, huh? I'm Claudio."

"Claudio – a character in the Shakespearean play _Much Ado About Nothing._"

Claudio was surprised. "He's really smart."

The three kids then sat down on the couch. Duncan proceeded to explain. "He's got a photographic memory, and a phenomenal IQ!"

"Even stranger, he has no belly-button," said Crystal. "Just a branding of his name."

Kamon pulled up his shirt, and showed his stomach. "My stomach is totally smooth and flat." His name, KAMON, had been branded on there.

"You could be a test-tube baby," explained Claudio.

"No," refuted Kamon. "Test-tube babies have navels, since they're put back in the womb." He then decided to tell about his father. "I'm looking for my father. He disappeared two years ago."

"We have clues indicating that Professor Lewis Pantor of Sootopolis knew Giovanni," stated Crystal.

---

"Mr. Briney?" Brendan was surprised to see Mr. Briney was okay. "What happened to you for all this time?"

"I was forced to ferry Team Aqua to a spot in the ocean, where, they claimed, was where the legendary Kyogre was resting. Something tells me they're up to something that could ruin nature's balance."

May wasn't having a good time. How dare they lock them up? Strangely, however, the cell was neither caged nor barred. Instead, there was a flickering sheet blocking the way out. May started to tear it apart.

Mr. Briney shouted, "May, that's-"

May felt a strange, shocking sensation surrounding her body, pushing her to the ground.

"…a force field."

Wally then decided, "We're breaking out. Now that we know where this place is, we can call for stronger forces and shut them down!"

"Not so loud, Wally," insisted Mr. Briney. "We don't want anybody knowing about our intention of leaving."

---

A news channel was tuned on the TV. "Police have identified the remains found in Viridian Forest as Lewis Pantor, a biochemistry professor from Sootopolis. Dr. Pantor was last seen eleven years ago leaving the town…"

Duncan called Detective Intem. "Hey, Detective Intem," started Duncan, "you should have told us when you identified the remains."  
"You're not entitled to that, I'm afraid," stated Intem.

"Well, I'm sure my friend is, since he's desperate to find his father, and Pantor might hold the key!"  
"No, he doesn't," explained Intem. "We interviewed his friends and colleagues, but nobody recognized Kamon's picture and Pantor never mentioned knowing anybody named Kamon."

"But he had to have known him, since they were both in that house in Viridian Forest. Maybe Kamon knows who killed him."

"A man was found dead last night. He had the same gun used to kill Pantor."

"Why would he kill him?"

"The man was a junkie looking for money. And he had been convicted of attempted murder and assault."  
"That would make sense."

"Duncan Caliduct, we're doing everything we can to help Kamon, but we found nothing to link him to Pantor, and this murder case is closed."

Duncan then hung up. "No link?"

"It's Pantor, right?" confirmed Kamon. "And he's dead. Did I know him?"

"Nobody found any connection, but we'll keep looking for answers."

Kamon then realized that now was the time to explain what really happened. "My dad killed Pantor."

"So now you know? After the case was closed?" questioned Duncan.

"I didn't think it was a good idea to tell you earlier."

"I know how you feel, Silver," sympathized Crystal. "This is a very complicated situation."

"But we'll continue looking for answers," assured Duncan.

"No! Every time we look for answers, just more questions pop up. We were on to something, but now we're right back where we started."

Kamon wasn't sure if the mystery would ever be solved.

---

"Excuse me, guard?" asked May. "I need to use the bathroom." It didn't seem to be a good ruse to escape, but it was worth a try.

"And I've got a bad headache," complained Brendan. _This_ wasn't really a ruse – he actually _did_ have a headache.

"Okay, then, come with me and we'll sort everything out," said the guard.

Wally gave the thumbs-up sign. "We'll do the rest," he whispered.

Brendan and May were led out of the cell by the guard.

---

Brendan was led through several doors, and finally into a medical office. The door closed with a hydraulic whoosh as the guard exited the office. Brendan checked his body to see if it all went into the room. Everything was still there.

The doctor's office was darker, and anatomical charts hung on the wall.

"Well, what have we here?" asked the doctor.

Brendan groaned in pain.

"I'm Dr. Gideon," introduced the doctor, with the comforting voice of a professional. "Now, Brendan, just lay down on the bed." Brendan did so. "How does it feel?"

"Just a minor migraine, but still, I feel a bit disoriented."

---

May exited the bathroom. The guard was gone, and the coast was clear. She then searched a nearby room. There was a recycling machine, with receptacles for paper, plastic, and aluminum. "They may be power-crazy, but at least Team Aqua recycles things."

What caught her eye, however, was a machine. It had a green monochrome screen, a keypad, and various controls on the front.

The screen read:

**POKéMON****KYOGRE**

**HEALTH: EXCELLENT**

**STATUS: COMATOSE**

The rest of the screen showed jagged lines jumping up and down on the monitor. "This must be the life support for Kyogre." May then headed out into the hall, and was found by Shelly. "Hey!" she shouted sharply. "We've been looking for you."

---

"That's probably the result of being in that cell for a day. Here's some Tylenol." Gideon handed Brendan a bottle of pills. "I'll be back." Gideon just walked out.

Brendan wandered around the office, and saw the anatomical chart of a human. Nothing interesting here, except for the fact that Gideon had the spleen mixed up with the liver. Brendan chuckled - he initially had a hard time with that too.

What caught his eye, however, was the chart of a large Pokémon. It reminded him of what Archie related. This could be Kyogre!

He used the computer to see if there was anything similar to this on there. There were a few PDF files relating to Kyogre. He could e-mail these to his father.

Suddenly, he had an idea: he could e-mail his father and tell him where they were!

And so, he quickly logged onto his e-mail, pressed the Compose button, and wrote this message:

_Dad! It's Brendan. I'm in Team Aqua's hideout just east of Lilycove. It's disguised as a simple cave. Please save us!_

Brendan then attached the PDF files to the message, and sent out the message. He then cleared the history, all cookies, and anything else indicating Brendan's use, and laid on the bed.

By the time the computer's screen saver came back on, Matt Geotica arrived.

"Come on, kid!"

---

As night fell, Kamon, in the basement, rested calmly.

He heard the "drip… drip…" of water. There weren't any caves nearby – or were there? His thoughts pointed to one part of the wall. He pounded on it. The vibration echoed through, indicating that there was a cave entrance. He pounded on another wall. No vibration echo. He then took a sledgehammer and pounded the wall. After a few seconds, wind blew from the wall. Courtney came downstairs, and was shocked to see him destroying the wall. "Ah! What _are_ you doing to our basement?"

"Yikes! I guess I got carried away," trailed off Kamon.


	15. Going to Sootopolis

"That's it," said Duncan on his laptop.

"You care to tell me why you destroyed part of my wall?" questioned Claudio.

"Yeah, let us in on it," demanded Crystal.

"It states here that this is an entrance to the underwater catacombs," stated Kamon. "And they extend all the way to Mossdeep and Sootopolis!"

"Big deal," said Claudio bluntly. "It was probably sealed up during the construction for our safety."

"We should go in there," said Kamon.

---

Brendan, May, and Wally were taken to a large lab. "Wow."

"Some lab, isn't it?" Shelly remarked.

"Some lab," repeated Brendan. "Bigger than my dad's."

"That's 'cause big experiments happen here," stated Matt. "Oh, what am I saying? You wouldn't understand."  
And he was right; Brendan didn't know much about what was going on, but a large water creature was inside a humongous tank.

Brendan blurted, "That's the biggest fish I'd ever seen!"

May remembered - that was Kyogre! There had to be some way to save it.

---

"All right, Courtney, cover up the hole," directed Duncan.

Courtney then moved a china cabinet towards the hole, cleverly covering it. "That should do it, guys."

No turning back now. The three headed off into the darkness.

"I can't see a thing; do we have a light?" asked Duncan.

"I didn't think we'd need a flashlight," answered Kamon. "But Tabitha gave me his lighter…" Kamon lit the Zippo lighter as they traveled through.

The tunnel was long and narrow.

---

After making sure Shelly wasn't watching, Wally increased the laser intensity on the terminal. He then moved back to his seat as Shelly returned.

An Aqua scientist pressed the "Start" button. A PA stated "30 seconds."

Five seconds later, it stated "25 seconds."

"20 seconds."

The timer then began to count down.

"19, 18, 17, 16, 15…"  
The diffused laser bounced around the glass piece furiously.

"14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7…"

The mainframe smoked and sparked, causing a major ruckus throughout the lab.

"Matt!" shouted Shelly. "A power surge!"

"Quick, the abort switches!" commanded Matt.

"3, 2, 1." The increased intensity of the laser shattered the fish tank and revived Kyogre.

Matt and Shelly futilely tried to abort the system, but the screen read an error instead.

"'Unable to Abort'," read Shelly. She then spoke through a microphone, "Kyogre might flood the lab! Turn off the power in here!"

Somewhere else, Steven had already beaten an Aqua Grunt and taken his key to the fuse box. Steven then shut off the power to the lab… as well as the entire complex! "This should shut off the surveillance."

Back in the now-dark lab, Kyogre tried to break through a wall.

"Attention! Attention! Please evacuate the complex immediately!" shouted Shelly through the microphone.

---

"Uh, Courtney?" asked Tabitha.

"Yeah?"

"Wasn't there like, something we were supposed to do?"

"Yeah," answered Courtney. "We were supposed to take Silver to… damn it!"

"I got the tranquilizer," said Tabitha. He pointed to one syringe with a label. "This one's for Silver. Maxie said not to shoot either Gold or Crystal."

"'Cause it'd kill them."

"Right. Let's go into that cave!" Tabitha and Courtney then went back downstairs, moved the cabinet, and entered the cave.

Duncan, Crystal, and Kamon reached a room. A statue of an ancient Pokémon dominated it. It had a long, thin, tube-like body with arms and a gargoyle head. It was tall and intimidating, about six meters tall, and made entirely out of stone.

"What Pokémon is that?" asked Duncan.

"I think that's Rayquaza," answered Kamon, who'd read the entire Hoenn travel guide. "Legends say that it brought peace to Hoenn after the battle between Kyogre and Groudon." Kamon didn't think it was likely, but due to their previous experiences with legendary Pokémon, he didn't completely discount the possibility.

The statue looked rather fearsome. Kamon stood in front of it and kneeled before it. The statue held out its hand, almost as if it wanted a handshake.

"I wonder if shaking the statue's hand will trigger a door…" He shook its open hand… which moved with his!

The floor that Duncan and Crystal were on began to sink.

"What's going on?" said a surprised Duncan.

"It's an ancient elevator!" Crystal said in wonder.

As the elevator sank into the ground, a new room opened to them.

"Your floor, sir," said Duncan in a mocking voice. "Have a good day, sir."

"_Who Framed Roger Rabbit_," stated Kamon as they stepped off of the elevator. "Wait, that was our ride!"

One minute later, the elevator sank down, this time with Tabitha and Courtney.

"We wanted to come along," explained Tabitha.

"I shook that statue's hand, and it does this?" questioned a baffled Courtney.

"You must have followed us," said Kamon. "Let's look around to see if there's another way out."

---

Shelly searched the crowd of evacuees, but Brendan, May, and Wally were nowhere to be found. Deep inside, she began to feel remorse and pity for them. "Get me a transport," she ordered a bunch of grunts. "Let's find those kids."

"Nobody is leaving until we make all the necessary repairs," ordered Archie.

"Up yours, sea dog!" insulted Shelly. "I'm resigning my position as tactic commander."

---

"What's that?" asked Duncan.

Crystal could barely see anything in the darkness. "What?"

Duncan flashed the lighter at what he saw - a skeleton!

"Oh, my God!" shouted Tabitha, his voice echoing.

Kamon examined the body. "It's Agatha." It looked like she starved to death.

Duncan sighed. "I guess she knew a lot more than she let on."

"But not quite enough to find a way out of here," continued Crystal.

"We're all going to be skeletons if _we_ don't find a way out of here!" panicked Tabitha.

"Don't panic, Tabi, I'm right here," assured Courtney as she held on to him. "We'll find a way," she continued in a breaking voice.

Kamon saw a note in Agatha's bony hand. "Hey, there's a note! Okay, let's see…"

**I am convinced that the entrance to Sootopolis lies beyond the next chamber. Alas, I cannot get past the gate. If only Claudio knew about the secret entrance…**

Too bad for Agatha; she'd come a long way.

"A gate? Let's go look for that gate," commanded Kamon.

"Hold on," said Tabitha. "Just let me take this picture…" He used his cell phone to snap a picture of the skeleton.

As they continued deeper into the cave, they found a heavy bronze gate. Next to it was a narrow crawlspace.

Kamon tried to climb up to the hole, but the wall was too vertical. "This isn't good. Hey, Tabitha!"

"Yeah?"

"Could you please climb through that hole?"

"No way, dude! I bet it's crawling with Golbat and bugs! "

"Fine, we'll rot down here like Agatha."

Tabitha then looked at the picture of the skeleton. "We're not gonna go anywhere until I climb up there, are we?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Okay, then, up I go!" Kamon held on to Tabitha's feet as the six-foot-four man pulled himself into the hole, and fell to the other side. "Ha-ha! Come on in!" He used a pulley to open the gate.

After a long trek through the cavern, they finally reached daylight. "We made it, guys," declared Kamon. "Welcome to Sootopolis."

As he left the cave entrance, he saw a sign stating: "The Cave of Origin".

"That's what we came out of?" Kamon then remembered why they came here. "Let's go to Pantor's lab."

---

Brendan, May, and Wally awakened to find themselves washed up on shore.

"Where are we?" asked May.

"I think we're on a deserted island," said Brendan.

"No, look!" Wally pointed to a larger island with houses and a skyscraper. "We're in Mossdeep!"

---

Duncan, Crystal, and Kamon entered Pantor's laboratory.

"Hello?" asked a man.

"Hi, I'm Kamon Stelldox of Littleroot Town," introduced Kamon. "I think I know Lewis Pantor. You recognize me?"

"No, I'm sorry; I've never seen you before. I'm Clark Teneval. I was Lewis' research assistant."

"What'd he research?" asked Crystal.

"Lewis wanted to maximize brain potential, mainly of Pokémon," answered Clark.

"He developed theories of individual values and effort values of Pokémon, as well as values that define their personalities," explained Kamon. "I've been researching."

"Say, let's test him and Axel and see what happens," requested Duncan. "You'll see what we're talking about."

---

Kamon and Axel saw the geometrical math problems - and a bit of calculus on top of that. But this was somehow very easy for them - all of their answers were correct. Spike and Wyner, however, had no clue whatsoever. It was all a different language.

Next was the shuffle game. A coin was inside one of the five cups as they shifted around rapidly in one minute. Spike and Wyner picked a random one, while Axel and Kamon focused _very_ carefully and picked the cup they focused on. It had the coin, while Spike and Wyner didn't get it.

Finally, there came the picture memory game. One hundred images were projected on the board. Kamon wrote down accurate descriptions of all of the images.

Clark was visibly impressed. This man and his Persian knew their stuff! There was something strange about him...

---

"Wow! Kamon and Axel's results are both so far beyond the normal range. I showed them a hundred images in one minute. Both remembered them all!" exclaimed Clark. "And they obviously show a lot of knowledge of math problems that would take even me a long time to solve."

"Well, then, don't you think it's possible that he was tested by Pantor?" asked Duncan.

"I suppose, but Lewis would have shared the results," explained Clark. "As shown with Wyner and Spike, the best test results, even with repeated tests, could only identify up to forty-two pictures." He saw Kamon looking at the glass display of rewards and pictures of Professor Pantor. "What are you looking at, exactly?" he asked.

"Check this out! You won't believe this!" said an excited Kamon. The others then looked at the picture, which was… of Kamon?

"That's _you_," said Crystal. "You _did_ work with Pantor!"

"That can't be; check the name and date," Duncan rejected. "That's a man named Maximilian Banrun. From 2183."

"I wasn't even born yet!" shouted Kamon. "How is this possible?!"

---

The five had rented a room at the Pokémon Center.

"Look, man, we're not kidding you! I'll send you this picture of her skeleton," Tabitha insisted to Claudio on his cell phone.

Kamon sat on his bed. "Maybe that Maximilian guy is related to me."

"I think we know him," said Tabitha subtly.

"You do?" said a wondering Kamon. He then felt a sharp prick in his back. "Ugh… everything's all blurry…" His whole body numbed as his vision turned black and he collapsed to the ground.


	16. Blastoff at Mossdeep

Brendan, May, and Wally, who were still on the island, walked around town.

"Maybe we should ask somebody here for help," said May.

"But what are we supposed to do next?" asked Wally. "Team Aqua's after us."

"Hey, look!" Brendan saw a speedboat in the distance. "Maybe the guy on that speedboat will help us!"

On the speedboat were Matt and Shelly, who were looking for them.

"Let's check Mossdeep," said Shelly. "I'm sure those kids are together."

"Then, let's move it!" ordered Matt as they shot into the island.

Brendan then realized that those riders were with Team Aqua. "Uh, I don't think they're there to help us..."

Matt and Shelly, upon dismounting, came in hot pursuit for Brendan, May, and Wally.

"Let's make a run for it!" shouted May, and the three ran away.

"Hey. wait!" exclaimed a surprised Matt. "We're not gonna take you back!"

"Come on, Wally, I just want to help you now."

"Why the hell did they run away?" questioned Matt. "Damn kids."

"Looks like we'll have to explain everything while holding them down."

---

Kamon began to regain consciousness.

From what he could gather, he was in the back of a Jeep at night. Had any danger finally come to pass?

He began to remember more of that night. He was inside a glass chamber, while Lewis Pantor was staring down at him. After a flash of light, so was Giovanni.

Another flash of light ensued, and Kamon was back in the Jeep.

---

Brendan, May, and Wally were hiding out in the Space Center. Wally looked out through a window. "It doesn't look like they know where we are."

"What are you three doing here?" asked a scientist.

"Hiding from Team Aqua," said Brendan. "They're here and after us."

---

Kamon awakened, finding himself transported on a stretcher, which he was strapped to. He quietly managed to free his arms and break the straps off. As a result of being free, he then ran through the hallway. The Magma Grunts were visibly surprised.

"How'd that kid get up so easily?"

"We need to grab and sedate him again!"

"Well, you heard what the boss said. The kid's tough. He could be anywhere in the complex."

Kamon searched the hideout. Where could Duncan and Crystal be?

He then had an idea: he could call them via PokéNav. He searched his pocket... "Oh, no! They took my PokéNav!" He had also been relieved of his money, making him unable to use a pay phone either. Not that there were any around.

Which meant that Kamon was trapped and isolated. Pretty soon, he would be recaptured.

No. He couldn't let that happen. He had to find Tabitha and Courtney. They may be vital to his escape.

---

"Look, we're Aqua rebels now," explained Shelly to Wally. "We don't like Team Aqua anymore."

"I don't know if I can trust you."

"Come on, chum, give us a chance," requested Matt. "We're good now."

"Well, okay, I guess."

"Good! It's all settled."

---

Kamon walked through a hall. He could sense that Tabitha and Courtney's room was here. He picked a familiar door, and...

Nobody was present. This seemed to be the perfect chance to use the phone to call Duncan and Crystal.

He picked up the receiver and dialed a number. "586-555-0146."

"Hello?" asked Duncan.

"Great, you didn't get captured!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm back in Team Magma's hideout. I'm in Tabitha and Courtney's room."

"They know you're in there?"

"No. I sneaked in." He could sense that somebody was coming. "Just get help." He hung up and dashed under the bed.

Tabitha and Courtney had returned. Kamon suddenly jumped out and grabbed them by the necks!

Courtney barely screamed. "What are trying to do? Give us heart attacks?"

"You need a heart before you can have an attack," said Kamon menacingly. "Now what happened to me?"

"We tranqued you!" answered Tabitha nervously.

"I knew it. Why did you?"

"By order of Maxie," answered Courtney, gasping for air. Kamon let go of them.

"Maximilian Banrun? Pantor's old research assistant?"

"Yeah, man, so just leave us alone, please!" pleaded Tabitha.

"Okay, then," said a calming Kamon. "I'll leave."

---

Team Magma Grunts stormed the space center.

"Look, Team Magma! We're rebels now!" Matt tried to explain to them. "We don't want any more of that damn Team Aqua!"

"Can't we settle this peacefully?" begged Shelly. "Why do we rival each other?"

A Team Magma Admin. told Shelly, "Well, since you're not in Team Aqua anymore, we've got no more use for you. We'll use the space shuttle to get into space. With no rivals!"

"Not if we can help it!" Brendan, May, and Wally all called out their Pokémon. "Let's fight these Magmas to the end!"

---

Kamon walked through the halls of Team Magma's headquarters, dodging any patrolling grunts.

It was decided – Duncan and Crystal would seek help to save him.

Suddenly, however, a flash of light blanketed Kamon, and he had become frozen in place. What was he doing now? He was going to…

_fade…_

Kamon began to lose his memory, as if his brain were being reformatted.

_fade…_

A strange man, in a black-and-red jumpsuit, who seemed oddly familiar, approached him from the shadows.

"Kamon, I am your friend," said the man calmly.

Kamon could not move or speak. He couldn't even blink to escape the man's staring gaze.

The strange man could feel the tenseness in Kamon's body. "You recognize me, don't you?"

Kamon did recognize him. But from where?

"I helped you and your friends escape from the Weather Institute."

Kamon didn't recall… wait a second, this man did. Kamon began to feel calm. He was with an old friend.

"Together, we will stop Team Magma's plan to release Groudon into the open."

---

After a bitter battle, Team Magma escaped from the space center, and sailed into the sea. An elderly woman was caught up in the fight, and injured severely.

"May... come over here, please. It's your grandma."

May came over to Olivia curiously. "What's going on?"

"Kamon's... not really... your cousin..."

"What?!"

"Giovanni's... not really... Kamon's father..."

"He was adopted?"

"Yes... but more than that... Kamon is special... tell your father the disappointing news..." Olivia groaned in pain, and passed out.

"What did she mean: 'Giovanni's not really Kamon's father?'" asked Brendan.

"I think she's been trying to tell us the truth about him."

---

The next day, on a hot summer noon, Kamon and the strange man had arrived at a specific spot in the ocean. "Here is the Terra Cave," the man presented.

"There's no land."

"It's underwater."

"So I'll have to go underwater to get to Groudon."

"Yes."

Kamon found himself automatically jumping off the boat and into the water. He proceeded to dive down the ridge into darkness.

The pressure increased, and the temperature decreased. Kamon floundered through the darkness as his eyes adjusted and, for some reason, didn't feel the pressure for air, almost as if he could breathe underwater.

Kamon felt an aura of fire as he traveled. Could the aura be that of Groudon? The aura grew stronger as he came toward a cave. A burning sensation emerged in his body, despite the coldness, and he swam up to the surface, reaching a seafloor cave.

He then heard the voice of the strange man call to him:

_Welcome to the Terra Cave._ _You must pass the tests in order to awaken Groudon. You must first overcome the hot spring pond, then the lava room, and then resist the temptations that come after. Only then will you awaken the legendary Pokémon_.

Kamon decided, this shouldn't be that hard – he could handle it.

_No, it is not as simple as you believe. That's right. I read your mind. Even though you can withstand such conditions, continuous injuries can still kill you. I hope this does not happen._

---

"I can't get Kamon on the phone," Norman told Gloria. "What could have happened to him?"

"Did you get May?"

"Yeah, but she's been awful secretive about where she is."

"Could she be worried that you'll organize a search party?"

"I will if I must. I'm worried about both Kamon and May."

---

"Roger, did you call Duncan and Crystal?"

"I did, Lisa, and they're fine."

"What about Kamon?"

"They haven't said anything about him lately. I'm worried. What if Team Magma's in on it?"

"Roger, we've checked out Team Magma, and they're legit. If anything, they're protecting them."

Roger sighed. "I hope you're right."


	17. The Awakening of Ancient Pokemon

Kamon reached a river of steaming water.

_Once you adjust your body temperature to the water's heat, you will be able to swim through without a single burn. Be very careful!_

This was no easy task. For one thing, Kamon didn't know how to adjust his temperature. But then he remembered the desert and volcano, and how he was able to withstand the heat there. As a result, the heat surrounding the place began to fade away, and Kamon submerged into the water, swimming to the other side. It didn't feel boiling hot, but it was barely bath water either.

_Well, you learned how to adjust your temperature. That's... amazing!_

Kamon was still burning hot from the trip, but the heat subsided as he continued on. Wait a second... he was being pulled back by strong wind! He fell to the ground and was dragged back to the hot spring room. "There's gotta be some way to stop the wind."

_Hmm. Did you look around for any holes in the wall?_

Kamon searched around, and saw a hole sucking in wind on one side. He would have to block it somehow. The hole was framed by an archway of rocks, which appeared to be movable. As he reached the hole, he was being pulled in. Kamon resisted the force as he thrust his elbow at the rocks. They fell down, and the wind stopped blowing.

_Good, good! Now proceed to the next room._

Kamon did so, wondering who that man was. Why did he find Kamon so interesting? And why did he look so familiar?

---

Brendan, May, Wally, Matt, and Shelly had all been invited into Steven's house.

May was upset to witness her grandmother's death, and her final words: "Kamon's not really your cousin." It appeared that there was a lot to be learned about Kamon, and she was determined to find out what.

Brendan wondered what Team Aqua was doing now. Had they reclaimed Kyogre and begun their global flooding mission?

Steven had begun calling the Hoenn Elite Four and Gym Leaders. It was high time for the battle against Team Aqua, and all they needed were the courage and belief.

"You know what, Wally?" asked Shelly. "We're going to beat them. I know it."

"Yeah!" agreed Matt. "Especially since we know where the bastards will be, and surprise them with guerilla techniques!"

---

Kamon had reached a pond of lava with stepping stones. This seemed difficult, since lava would always kill him, and he didn't think himself to be accurate enough to hop the stones.

_You're at a pond of lava. You'll have to keep your balance. One wrong move, and you'll be fried, even if your temperature is adjusted._

Kamon cautiously stepped on the first stone, carefully making sure his feet were equally balanced on it. He used balancing equations to verify a perfect balance.

With that, he hopped to the next stone. A burst of fire exploded right behind him, almost shocking him. He quickly kept his balance – getting fried wasn't his task here. The heat was almost unbearable, however.

Estimating the formula for balance, he quickly followed it as he stepped his way through the pond and to the other side. However, he accidentally stepped on some of the lava on the way. Kamon could feel the heat through his disintegrating shoe, and he could see his badly charred foot.

He then proceeded to the next room, groaning over the intense pain.

---

Kamon had entered a room full of jewels and treasure! Just a handful of this would net him a billion dollars, at the very most. He ran to collect, but froze in place.

_Kamon, don't touch anything! You need to find Groudon._

Kamon remembered playing _Quest for Glory II_ – he didn't want to fall down a secret hole or cause a stalactite to fall on him, or he'd be seeing a permanent death message! He left the treasure behind, trying to resist the compulsion it gave. No wonder anyone who went in here died – _if_ anyone even did.

---

Kamon had finally found it – a large red Pokémon with rocky scales, weighing a ton, and standing eleven-foot-six. It was also sleeping silently.

_Congratulations, Kamon, you've found Groudon. Now you must awaken it. Place the Red Orb onto the altar where light shines._

Kamon withdrew the Red Orb from his bag – how did that get in there?

_I sneaked the orb in there._ The man snickered. _Now put it on the altar._

Kamon placed the orb onto the altar. Suddenly, it brightened and the light beamed at Groudon. The room rumbled as Groudon opened its eyes and awakened at last!

Groudon roared as it punched through the ceiling and climbed out of the room.

_Yes! You did it! Now we can stop Team Magma!_

But Kamon didn't feel that the whole truth was being told to him. He then remembered Tabitha and Courtney tell him about the plan – to wake up Groudon. It looks like he _helped_ Team Magma after all!

"No way, Maxie! I'm gonna stop you and Team Magma!"

Water sloshed into the room, flooding the whole cavern in the process and pushing Kamon out.

He held his breath for dear life, trying to swim back to the surface, but began to lose consciousness...

"_Kamon... is that you?_" asked a familiar voice. He awakened to find Lance Envimorph!

"Wha- what's going on?" asked Kamon.

"I found you unconscious at sea while chasing Team Magma," answered Lance. "It looks like you've been set up."


	18. The Burly Brawl

Kamon slipped into memory lane once more. This time, more of that night became clear.

"Nixyzon ordered you to exterminate Kamon!" Pantor yelled to Giovanni.

"You were Banrun's mentor! He trusted you, but now you're working for the enemy!"

"No, no, Banrun gave up any claim on Kamon when he turned his back on the company. They want Kamon dead."

Giovanni killed Pantor as usual.

---

Kamon awoke, realizing that he now knew Lewis Pantor's real personality – he was a greedy professor who cared little about Kamon.

"Lance?"

"What is it, Kamon?"

"When I passed out, I faintly heard a voice tell me, 'You're growing anxious. Stop asking questions! Remember nothing! It is safer that way.' And then I heard of something called Nixyzon."

"What happened before you passed out?" asked Lance.

"A man - the leader of Team Magma, I think - hypnotized me into awakening Groudon."

"It appears you were a victim."

"I don't know," Kamon said, unsure. "I felt some kind of connection, almost as if he was a long-lost relative of me."

Kamon looked at his burned foot, which had been bandaged by Lance. For some reason, the pain was gone. He pulled off the bandage.

"Wait! Your foot needs to heal!" He noticed that Kamon's foot did. There was no sign of any injury. "That was unusually fast – especially since it's a third-degree burn."

---

The Stelldox, Caliduct, and Birch families were relieved to see their children okay.

"Duncan, Crystal," said Roger. "We're so glad to see you okay."

"But what about Kamon?" asked Lisa. "What happened to him?"

"He's gone missing," answered Duncan. "Who knows where he went?"

"I hope he's fine," said Crystal. "Oh, what am I saying? He's got great instincts, so he'll be just fine."

May asked Norman, "Dad, has Kamon ever been odd to you?"

"I'm sure he's unusual, but he's family."

Family... Kamon wasn't part of the family at all! "That's what I want to tell you about! Kamon's not really a member of the Stelldox family!"

Duncan and Crystal were startled to hear this.

"You mean, he's not really Kamon?" asked Crystal. "Then who is he?"

"I know not, my friend."

---

Groudon, who had escaped from Team Magma's sea base, jumped into Sootopolis. There, it locked eyes with Kyogre, its eternity-long rival.

With one low bellow, the sun shined harshly.

The residents, in panic, took refuge into the water to cool off.

A loud growl from Kyogre resulted in clouds darkening the sky, and cooling the town.

The residents then took refuge back into their homes. On the other hand, Clark Teneval, fascinated by the battle, remained outside, taking pictures of the epic battle with his digital camera.

"This is simply amazing! The two legendary Pokemon duking it out in the 23rd century... and it's a perfect time for a photo shoot!"

---

The sun shined harshly into Sootopolis, while rain showered the surrounding area.

Winona, on flight with her Skarmory, noticed the unusual weather. "It looks like Team Magma already awakened Groudon. And it appears that Kyogre's gotten into a rampage!"

Back in Evergrande, the Elite Four were organized for counsel. Winona spoke through radio to the counsel. "And it looks like Groudon and Kyogre have headed to Sootopolis for their battle!"

"Then we have no choice," said Steven. "We must bring the Pokémon to peace and put them back to their rest!"

---

Kamon exited the house. He was back in Sootopolis, but a lot was going on – Groudon had escaped into town, and begun its brawl with Kyogre.

Lightning struck down into the water, shocking the Pokémon swimming in it.

"Lance! What do we do?" asked Kamon, wind blowing at his singed clothes.

"We need to head to the Cave of Origin where Rayquaza is!"

Struggling to reach the Cave of Origin, Kamon and Lance fought their way through wind and trees being pulled out of their roots. A great wave of water splashed into town.

"Whoa!" Clark struggled to stay on solid ground. Good thing his camera was waterproof! "Well, I think I'm done taking pictures. I should get out of here now!" He ran, partially swimming, to the underground shelter where the other townspeople were.

"Check it out, folks – I'm the brave research assistant who got pictures of the battle."

---

Lance and Kamon entered the cave, sheltered from the hurricane.

"This is where I first entered town," said Kamon. "There's two paths. The left one leads to Lilycove, while I haven't entered the right one."

"Then that's where we need to go."

Kamon and Lance followed the long path down. Fog gathered and obscured their view, and Kamon could smell something strange. "It smells like ozone."

"Rayquaza – or, at least, any trace of it – should be near."

They finally reached a pool of sulfurous water, but Lance was in for a surprise - no Rayquaza. Instead, Wallace, the league Champion, was standing next to the pool. "What had happened to Rayquaza?"

"Wallace? I don't know what happened, but it's left in wake of the burly brawl."

Kamon then felt a sudden shock of electricity in his brain. He groaned in pain.

"What is it, Kamon?" asked Lance in surprise.

"I see... a tall tower... in the ocean... near a small town of logs and rafts..."

"Pacifidlog Town, and step on it!" commanded Wallace to the Elite Four via Bluetooth. "Kamon and Lance, you head to Sky Pillar."

---

Rain started to thunder down at Mossdeep.

"It looks like we'll have to wait a while before we can head home," said Roger. "We'll make ourselves at home here."

Crystal began to lose hope. Kamon was no match for severe thunderstorms at sea.

Brendan, May, and Wally then grabbed raincoats and burst out the door.

"Hey, guys!" exclaimed Duncan. "Where are you going?"

"We're gonna find Steven," answered May. "He hasn't come back in a while."

"No way, folks, it's too dangerous." Shelly blocked the door. "So we're coming with you."


	19. The Final Clash

Rain crashed down into the sea, while Brendan and company surfed through the rough currents.

"We've got to get to Pacifidlog Town," said May. "Steven's there."

"That's a few miles from here," stated Shelly. "This storm will kill us before we get there!"

"Then I guess I'll see you in hell. Hyah!" exclaimed Wally.

When they neared the town, however, they escaped the storm.

"Wait a second, this isn't right," said Shelly in surprise. "The storm ends at this spot!"

---

Kamon felt the lightweight floor underneath him. He could understand how a raft could hold a shack and people - it was easy due to buoyancy in connection to the weight that the wooden raft was carrying.

He then asked Lance, "Why doesn't the storm extend over here?"

"That's a good question, Kamon." Even Lance had trouble figuring that out. "I think it's a gradual growth."

"What happened that led me to Giovanni raising me? Why do I have pictures reminding me of my childhood if memories reveal nothing relating to them?"

"They must have been forged by Giovanni," decided Lance. "The whole thing is just a scam to hide your true identity."

Kamon then led himself to believe that he wasn't really Kamon Stelldox at all. If not, then what _was_ he? Other than the vague clues about Nixyzon, there was nothing to work at.

"Your uncle wouldn't let you anywhere near Team Rocket," added Lance. "He may have been hypnotized by Maxie to embrace you going to the Radio Tower."

"If Rayquaza is invisible and only lives in the ozone layer, how are we supposed to find him?"

"Well, the legend goes that Rayquaza becomes visible when Groudon and Kyogre are awake."

"Meaning: they're both awake, he's awake."

"Exactly."

---

The five arrived at Pacifidlog Town, and they were surprised to see that it was floating above the water.

"I wonder if those rafts are anchored securely," said Brendan.

Wally then saw Kamon, Lance, and Steven on board to Sky Pillar. "Hey, I see Steven leaving town, with those other two."

"They must be off to Sky Pillar," said Shelly. "Let's follow them."

---

Kamon, Lance, and Steven had arrived at Sky Pillar. which was a small island with a tower.

Kamon maintained his focus on Rayquaza. An image flashed in his brain, showing the green surpentine creature with rudder wings at rest on the top.

"It's at the top," Kamon said automatically. He checked the length of the tower and its windows, and estimated it to be six floors high.

"I don't see anything," said Steven. "Are you sure he's up there?"

"It wouldn't hurt to check," answered Lance. "Rayquaza is said to represent the sky, so this seems to be... well, it's hard to say, really."

Kamon ran into the tower, knowing that Rayquaza would need him to summon it.

"Wait! Where are you going?" demanded Steven.

"I have to get up there," explained Kamon. "I can't turn back now – it's up there, and it needs me to awaken it."

"Then we'll all go together," Lance said to Kamon and Steven.

Shortly after they entered the tower, the other five boarded. As they did, however, rain showered down. "Looks like the rain's starting to extend around here," hypothesized Matt.

"Yeah, soon it'll cause a global flood!" said Shelly in shock. "We gotta follow those guys around the tower!"

---

Kamon walked up the staircase, with Lance and Steven following. "Uh, guys, I can't control my movement."

"That's okay; we're getting up there anyway," said Steven.

"Wait – I've got a feeling that someone knows we're here," said the suspicious Lance. "And that person seems to have a connection with me and Kamon."

"Guys, catch up! I can't stop." Claydol and Dusclops attempted to attack him, but a strange aura surrounding him caused them to become calm and harmless. "Now what the hell is going on?"

"Apparently, you cause these Pokémon to become harmless," said Lance. "We'll stay close to you."

Kamon had finally reached the top. Rain and lightning He saw the green tubular Pokémon sleeping.

Suddenly, a large plane rushed to the tower. "Hold it!" shouted Archie. "You're not awakening Rayquaza."

Brendan, May, Wally, Matt, and Shelly had made it as well.

"What the- Rayquaza's visible," said May. "We'll have to awaken it."

"Not so fast, kids!" shouted Archie. "You've defied us, and we'll have to stop you from destroying our work. Now, Geotica and Syntheprove, carry on with the original plan!"

"Not on your life, you idiot," insulted Shelly. "We're changed now, and I'm never turning back."

"We're going to fight if we have to!"

"Then hold them off!" exclaimed Kamon as he headed toward Rayquaza. Aqua Grunts stopped him, though. Kamon, whose Pokémon had all been stolen, had no choice but to attack them himself. One grunt tried to confine him with a metal capture ring, which Kamon quickly nabbed before it caught him.

Steven and Archie battled with their Pokémon, while the former Aqua Administrators battled the grunts. Lance helped Kamon with his Dragonite. After a Hyper Beam, the grunts were tossed aside.

Kamon had finally reached Rayquaza. Now how was he supposed to awaken it? What about that statue holding out its hand? Rayquaza was doing just that. He shook its hand, and the tower began to rumble. As Rayquaza awakened, it violently thrashed into Steven and Archie.

Steven and Archie both fell off the Sky Pillar and to their deaths into the rocks below. Many Team Aqua Grunts scattered at the sight, while a flash of light extended to Sootopolis.

---

Rayquaza intervened in the battle between Kyogre and Groudon, who looked up, and felt a calmness wash over them. They trekked away from each other, jumped out of the mountain, and into remote locations in the ocean, where they would rest for many more years.

Everyone, except Kamon, had teleported back to Sootopolis, where they saw Groudon and Kyogre leave town.

"It worked, but Kamon's gone," said Lance.

---

Only he wasn't – he was transported to a remote island, where he met Maxie again!

"Oh no..."

"Don't worry, Kamon, this was all a test."

"What?!"

"But you failed to see my true intention. You were supposed to see what I wanted you to do – refuse to awaken Groudon in the first place. I believe you need some more training."

"What about my friends?"

"Just write them a convincing letter, which will be sent to them, indicating that you found your father – me."

"What?! I thought Giovanni Stelldox was my father."

"He raised you to think that, and you'll meet him soon."

Kamon was excited. He wanted all of the answers soon.


	20. Farewell Kamon

Lance had a letter in his hand. It was from Kamon! "He's alive after all, guys."

Duncan and Crystal read the letter, which said:

Dear Gold and Crystal,

I've found that Maxie Banrun is my real father. It looks like I finally completed my adventure. Don't worry – most foster care stories don't have happy endings. Consider this ending happy. I've been reunited, and it appears that all of those clues were merely red herrings. Take care of Spike and Wyner, now. I might never see you again, but I give you all of my thanks for sticking with me at Johto.

Your loving friend, Silver.

---

Mr. Stone stared at his son's tombstone. "Well, son, you died for your homeland, and even though you only lived to be twenty-six, it was a great life. You'll always be a part of my life. Rest in piece – no, rest in paradise. You've earned it."

---

"And so, we declare Brendan Birch, May Stelldox, and Wally Syntheprove to be the Gems of Hoenn!" declared Wallace.

Brendan couldn't believe it – a sapphire-blue spotlight shined onto him. A ruby-red spotlight shined onto May, and an emerald-green light on Wally.

They had also been given their respective-colored medals. The red metal was a ruby, the blue meadal a sapphire, and the green medal an emerald.

And so, Brendan, May, and Wally were now the Gems of Hoenn!

Finally, peace returns to Hoenn. This ends the story.

---

Well, almost. We need to get back to Kamon.

"Maxie, tell me everything now."

"You'll find out everything soon enough, Kamon."

"When?"

"Well, since you're eager to know, I'll put you into cryogenic storage until the time is right."

"What?! I'm not sure if I'll survive!"

"You're special, and so you'll live." Maxie then injected a syringe into Kamon's neck, filling him with a strong tranquilizer fluid and causing him to pass out.

"Now put him into the freezing chamber."

Kamon, heavily sedated, was carried on a stretcher and placed into the freezing chamber. There, frost surrounded him and all functions inside his body froze in place.

---

Crystal, back at home, noticed a picture of her, Duncan, and Kamon. At the sight of Kamon, Crystal broke into tears. She felt there was no reason to believe she would ever see Kamon again.

Duncan, on the other hand, was intrigued to see a manila envelope on his bed. Upon checking it, he saw that it was from Lance. A note attached to the envolope read:

_To Duncan,_

_I've discovered many things relating to Kamon. The clues I could find are in this box. Investigate them thoroughly, and email me any information. Remember, though, this is top secret!_

Duncan opened the box, and saw various knick-knacks, such as the keycard, various photos of a secret experimental lab, and, most peculiarly, a piece of paper with the keycard logo and coordinates handwritten onto it: 36' 17' north, 86' 18' west.

"I think that's in Kanto," Duncan said to himself.

---

Kamon was now in a heavily guarded cryogenic chamber, inanimate and waiting to be defrosted.

Maxie watched Kamon's body, telling him, "One day, you'll follow your destiny – to enlighten the world and advance civilization. You're my child, and you'll find out everything soon enough."

---

THE END

_No Pokémon were harmed in the making of this fanfic._

_The characters, events, and firms portrayed in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or to actual firms, is purely coincidential._

_Another quest will start from here. Stay tuned for the final story, _SuperPokémon Quest 4: Shadows of Kamon_, starting at Summer 2008._


End file.
